India participated in the 22nd Council of Ministers’ (COM) meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held at Dhaka. The Indian delegation was led by Minister of State External Affairs (MoS), Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.

MoS, in his remarks reaffirmed India’s strong commitment to strengthening of IORA to promote peace, security and prosperity in IOR as well as in the wider Indo-Pacific. He highlighted India’s contributions as coordinator of the IORA priority areas of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Science, Technology & Innovation towards capacity building and strengthening of IORA Secretariat.

India is setting up an e-Office at the IORA Secretariat. MoS also announced the provision of e-subscription by India to Mahatma Gandhi Library at IORA Secretariat. The COM adopted the ‘IORA’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific’ (IOIP) which would guide the enhancement of IORA’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. India led the process of development of the IOIP (IORA’s outlook on Indo-Pacific).

LEARNING FROM HOME / WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is a dynamic inter-governmental organisation aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region through its 23 Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners.

IORA’s apex body is the Council of Foreign Ministers (COM) which meets annually. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) assumed the role of Chair since November 2019 – November 2021, followed by the People’s Republic of Bangladesh November 2021 – November 2023. The Secretariat of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is hosted by the Government of the Republic of Mauritius.

INDIA AND IORA

The Indian Ocean s a major conduit for international trade, especially energy. The Ocean is also a valuable source of fishing and mineral resources. The Indian Ocean basin is of particular importance for India, as the region’s most populous country and geopolitical keystone.

• India is geographically located at the Ocean’s centre, and has over 7,500 kilometres of coastline.
• Majotity of India’s trade by volume come via the Indian Ocean.
• Moreover, India is heavily dependent on the resources of the Indian Ocean; Fishing and Mineral resource extraction
• There is a strong security dimension to India’s engagement with the Indian Ocean, beyond traditional naval considerations; Terrorist attacks and piracy are some examples of challenges India facing to its security
• India’s priorities to  preserve the Ocean as a shared resource: an important channel for trade, a sustainable resource base, and a region secure from heightened military competition, non-state actors, and catastrophic natural disasters.
• India has also been playing a more active role in humanitarian and disaster relief operations and  acted as a first responder during major crises in the littoral countries, India regularly engages with the Indian Ocean littoral countries through such mechanisms as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and Indian Ocean Navies Symposium (IONS) under the vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
• India continues to promote its official policy of “coordination, cooperation and partnership” in the regional maritime domain.
• As coordinator to the priority area on disaster risk management, India has published guidelines for IORA. It has also urged partners to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure launched at the UN in September 2019.
• India has been trying to emerge as the net provider of information in the IOR and in that direction it created the Information Fusion Centre located in Gurugram to assist member countries of IOR with real-time crisis information. Bangladesh, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Seychelles have been part of the information support structure of India.