Indian Ocean Naval Symposium:
Boosting maritime engagement with Indonesia, a key member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), and advancing the vision of MAHASAGAR, the Indian Navy’s First Training Squadron (1TS) departed Belawan recently, after a successful three-day port call.
- It is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues.
- It promotes maritime cooperation, mutual understanding, and collaboration on issues such as maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).
- In the process, it endeavours to generate a flow of information between naval professionals that would lead to common understanding and possibly cooperative solutions on the way ahead.
- IONS is structured around a rotating chairmanship, biennial conclaves of chiefs, and working groups.
- There are 36 littoral in the Indian Ocean, which have been geographically grouped into the following four sub-regions:
- South Asian Littorals: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and United Kingdom (British Indian Ocean Territory)
- West Asian Littorals: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates
- East African Littorals: France (Reunion), Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.
- South East Asian and Australian Littorals: Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
- Observers: China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain.
