The recent 19th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting, hosted in Abu Dhabi, UAE, focuses on the theme of “Promoting a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity in the Indian Ocean”. The United Arab Emirates has now assumed the chair role with Bangladesh acting as Vice-Chair for the 2019-2021 period. Previously, South Africa held the chair position from 2017 to 2019. This meeting saw the attendance of IORA’s 22 Member States and nine Dialogue Partners.
Key Points of IORA’s Focus
IORA, the sole organization at a ministerial level that concentrates exclusively on the Indian Ocean region, relies on growing economic and trade linkages to support prosperity, peace, and stability. In 2014, India facilitated the inaugural Indian Ocean Dialogue in Kochi, Kerala. This dialogue attracted officials, academics, and strategic thinkers to discuss significant themes such as the geo-political contour of the Indian Ocean Region, maritime security challenges, strengthening regional institutions, information sharing, cooperation in disaster relief and management, and economic cooperation. The outcome was the official adoption of the Kochi Consensus.
The Indian Ocean Dialogue Initiation
The Indian Ocean Dialogue, a paramount initiative of IORA, originates from the 13th Council of Ministers meeting which was held in Perth, Australia in November 2013. The sixth edition of this initiative is set to commence on 13 December 2019 in New Delhi, India.
India’s Role and Contributions
India continues to advocate its official policy of “coordination, cooperation and partnership” in the regional maritime domain. As the coordinator for the priority area on disaster risk management, India has provided guidelines for the IORA. Furthermore, India has called for partners to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure launched by the UN in September 2019.
| Coalitions | Launched by |
|---|---|
| Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure | UN in September 2019 |
India as a Hub of Information
India is striving to become the net provider of information in the IOR. This drive led to the creation of the Information Fusion Centre located in Gurugram, which provides real-time crisis information to assist IOR member countries. Thus far, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Seychelles have participated in India’s information support structure.
Indian Ocean Rim Association Overview
Established in 1997, IORA is a regional forum aiming to build and expand understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation through a consensus-based, evolutionary, and non-intrusive approach. Consisting of 22 member states including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, and Yemen, IORA is based in Cyber City, Ebène, Mauritius. The organization manages, coordinates, services and monitors the implementation of policy decisions, work programmes and projects adopted by the member states.
Given that the Indian Ocean carries half of the world’s container ships, one-third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, this region plays a crucial role in international trade and transport. With the control of major sea-lanes, and trade routes intersecting it, the Indian Ocean region holds significant global influence.