INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM

WHY IN NEWS?

The 8^th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs (CoC) was conducted by Royal Thai Navy at Bangkok, Thailand from 19 – 22 Dec 23.

BACKGROUND

IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008 as a forum which seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive platform for discussions on regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to common understanding on the way ahead.

The inaugural edition of IONS was held in Feb 2008 at New Delhi, with Indian Navy as the Chair for two years (2008 – 2010).

MEMBERS

IONS includes 25 member nations that touch or lie within the IOR, and 9 observer nations.

The members 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 United Arab Emirates, Qatar
• 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.

There are 9 states with observer status:

•  China
•  Germany
•  Italy
•  Japan
•  Madagascar
•  Netherlands
•  Russia
•  Spain
• Republic of Korea

SYMPOSIUMS

Held biennially