A Collective of Littorals

Rohan Ramesh

On November 13-14 this year, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) celebrated 10 years of its existence. With a focus on current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) initiative — the theme for the 10^th anniversary seminar was ‘IONS as a Catalyst for SAGAR’. ‘SAGAR’ is an extension of India’s ‘Act East’ policy focussing on the nation’s diplomatic, economic and military outreach in the region.

INS Tarangini during IONS with vessels from participating countries

The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Sunil Lanba accompanied by Mrs Reena Lanba, President Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) arrived in Kochi on November 12 to be a part of the celebrations.

The CNS was the chief guest for the inaugural event — the IONS seminar, which was held on November 13 at the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre in Kochi. The seminar was attended by chiefs and senior representatives from the navies of the majority of member nations.

Twenty-six of the 32 countries, which constitute the total membership of IONS participated in the seminar, saw discussion of maritime issues pertaining to cooperative capacity-building to deal with common security concerns in the region. The current navies of the IONS are geographically grouped into the following four sub-regions:

South Asian Littorals: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and the UK

West Asian Littorals: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.

East African Littorals: France, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.

South East Asian and Australian Littorals: Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Timor Leste.

Observer countries include China, Germany, Italy,