India hosts 10th edition of Indian Ocean Dialogue

• India hosted the tenth edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue in New Delhi May 7 and 8 under the theme “Indian Ocean Region in a Transforming World”.

What is Indian Ocean Dialogue?

• The Indian Ocean Dialogue is a premier track 1.5 forum for open and free flowing dialogue among various stakeholders — scholars, experts, analysts, and policy makers from governments, think tanks and civil societies on strategic issues of interest and concern facing the region and beyond.

• It is a flagship initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), with its origins in the 13th Council of Ministers meeting, held in November 2013 in Perth, Australia. 

• Indian Ocean Dialogue enables open and constructive exchange of views on strategic issues of common concern, including maritime security, Blue Economy, trade and investment, and sustainable development. 

• In the past, India has hosted three editions of the Dialogue, including the inaugural session in Kerala in 2014, the sixth edition in New Delhi in 2019, and the eighth edition (held virtually) in 2021.

• The tenth edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Secretariat. 

• It brought together senior officials, policymakers, scholars and experts from IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners, to deliberate on key regional developments and emerging challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.

• The Dialogue assumed added significance as India has assumed the Chairship of IORA for the 2025-27 period. 

• India reiterated its commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region, guided by its Vision MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) and Neighbourhood First policy.

What is the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)?

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is an inter-governmental organisation formed in 1997 to foster regional economic cooperation. IORA has evolved into the peak regional group spanning the Indian Ocean.

• From its inception with 14 member states, the membership has expanded to 23 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, the Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. 

• India is one of the founding members of IORA.

• IORA has 12 dialogue partners: China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union.

• IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015.

• Decisions made within IORA are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.

• IORA’s apex body is the Council of Foreign Ministers (COM) which meets annually.

• The IORA Secretariat is based in Mauritius. It is headed by a fixed term Secretary-General.

• The Council of Ministers, on voluntary offer by Member States, elects a Chair of the Association for a period of two years. If there is no voluntary offer, the Chair is elected on the basis of geographical consideration.

• The incoming Chair is the Member State that served as the Vice-Chair of the Association during the term of office of the incumbent Chair.

• India assumed the Chairship of the IORA for 2025-2027 in November 2025.

• The role of the Chair is to arrange, coordinate, host and preside over the meetings of the Council, the meetings of the Committee of Senior Officials and any other meetings as mandated by the Council.

• IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015.

• The IORA Special Fund was established by the Council of Ministers in its meeting held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2004. The Special Fund is a financial mechanism for supporting and complementing the funding of projects and programmes adopted by the Association, in line with the principles and objectives enshrined in the Charter as well as the objectives and goals envisaged by the relevant bodies of the Organisation.

Priority areas of IORA:

i) Maritime Safety and Security

ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation

iii) Fisheries Management

iv) Disaster Risk Management

v) Academic, Science and Technology Cooperation

vi) Tourism and Cultural Exchanges.

The Indian Ocean

• As the third largest ocean woven together by trade routes, commands control of major sea-lanes carrying 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, the Indian Ocean remains an important lifeline to international trade and transport.

• The ocean lies at the heart of the economic and civilisational impulses that stretch from the eastern and southern shores of Africa all the way up to Australia.

• Home to nearly 2.7 billion people, member states whose shores are washed by the ocean are rich in cultural diversity and richness in languages, religions, traditions, arts and cuisines.

• They vary considerably in terms of their areas, populations and levels of economic development. They may also be divided into a number of sub-regions (Australasia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and Eastern & Southern Africa), each with their own regional groupings (such as ASEAN, SAARC, GCC and SADC, to name a few). Despite such diversity and differences, these countries are bound together by the Indian Ocean. 

• India, being strategically located in the Indian Ocean Region with an extensive coastline and presence of several islands, has a long maritime tradition. This has helped the country to forge deep rooted commercial, cultural and religious ties with countries in the region over centuries and evolve a vision that encompasses the interests of all.