Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant, who will soon become Chief Justice of India, has urged India and Sri Lanka to embrace a shared “guardianship of the Indian Ocean”, focusing on joint protection of marine ecosystems rather than diplomatic formalities.

Delivering a lecture at the University of Colombo, he called for a regional model of environmental constitutionalism, recognising that environmental rights and duties often transcend national borders.

Justice Surya Kant proposed:

• A Joint Commission on Marine Ecology to issue ecological advisories.

• Data-sharing systems on pollution and fisheries management.

• Judicial workshops under BIMSTEC to establish common interpretations of environmental rights.

He stressed that cooperation between India and Sri Lanka is “a matter of survival, not charity,” noting that the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean unite both nations through shared ecological challenges such as rising sea levels, overfishing, and pollution.

Highlighting the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar as biodiversity hotspots under severe stress, he described the clash between Indian and Sri Lankan fishers as a symptom of deeper ecological decline caused by destructive trawling and unregulated coastal development.

Justice Kant observed that while regional platforms like BIMSTEC and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) acknowledge environmental security, progress is hindered by the lack of an integrated transboundary governance framework.

He cited judicial precedents in both countries — India’s recognition of the right to a healthy environment under Article 21 and Sri Lanka’s Eppawela phosphate case affirming the doctrines of public trust and intergenerational equity — as examples of a shared moral and legal vision for environmental protection.

Justice Kant also announced a forthcoming visit by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court judges to India in late 2025 or early 2026, led by Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena, to deepen judicial dialogue and possibly advance the proposed Joint Commission on Marine Ecology.

He concluded by urging universities, legal institutes, and civil society to foster transnational cooperation and public awareness, noting that the judiciary has already demonstrated how justice can be ecological, intergenerational, and regional — and now policy must follow suit.