Sri Lanka & the Geo-politics of the Indian Ocean - Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane, exile journalist from Sri Lanka.

Indian Ocean has earned widespread interest as the 'centre stage' of geopolitical rivalry in the 21st Century since it contains the world's most important and the busiest strategic sea routes that converge the conflicting interests of major global powers. Consequently, the new power configuration in the region shaped by rising tensions between United States 'Asian Pivot policy' and China's westward power projection have become central areas of interest for many scholars on geopolitics. But the missing component of such discussions is the perspective from below to understand the true implications of these power rivalry and how they affect the destiny of vast number of people living in the region. The recent events unfolded in Sri Lanka provide an important window to grasp such neglected realities created by constantly changing strategic landscape. This presentation will focus on the big picture of Sri Lanka's conflict in order to understand the far reaching ramifications of emerging geopolitical confrontations in the region.

Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane was born on 7 February 1972 in Sri Lanka. He was a founder and later editor-in-chief of the alternative weekly newspaper Hiru, which was managed autonomously by the editors. In 2003 he organized the Sinhala-Tamil Art Festival. As a result of his critical newspaper columns he had to leave the country after massive threats. He continues to publish in various online journals and is currently coordinator of Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, an organization founded by Sri Lankan journalists in exile.

Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane was in the PEN Writers in Exile Program from September 2007 to August 2010. Today he lives with his wife in Germany.