View from Sri Lanka | Action in the Bay

Pramudith D Rupasinghe

Historically, the Bay of Bengal has been a main maritime battleground for empires and regional powers vying for trade, territory, and power, etc. Beginning in the 1500s, European powers, including Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and later Great Britain, built trading posts along the coast, increasingly growing their power through their navies. Maritime dominance enabled the British East India Company to establish colonial control across the region in the 18th century, a period of significant, or rather peak of its growth for the company.

Sri Lanka’s strategic location at the crossroads of major sea lanes made it a highly desirable prize due to its geopolitical significance. The historical pattern of maritime power projection through the bay shows how it enabled territorial conquest, resource extraction and many more, repeatedly compromising Sri Lanka’s sovereignty because of its strategic location. Is the risk in Sri Lanka unchanged? Is it unaware of a larger, silent storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal?

Safe Oceans, a Myth?

The Bay of Bengal today is a crucial maritime area, increasingly important economically and strategically; everyone seems to have a salty drop of water from it. This area boasts abundant natural resources: fisheries supporting millions, potential offshore oil and gas, and vital shipping lanes carrying about a quarter of global trade. The increasing challenges to water security are amplified by climate change, putting Bangladesh at severe risk due to saltwater intrusion and devastating floods that compromise freshwater resources; the scale and the number of metrological disasters faced by Bangladesh, Myanmar, and India, states near the Bay of Bengal every year indicate that.

Research by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) highlights that the Bay’s major littoral states in the above-mentioned areas are increasingly viewing maritime