Second IORA Meeting of Experts on Maritime Safety and Security

The Indian Ocean is viewed as an increasingly significant arena for global trade and security.

As the developing economies in the Indian Ocean region are at the cusp of vital economic transition that remains critically dependent on a stable maritime environment, there is a compelling case for envisioning a cooperative structure that provides effective ocean governance and addresses traditional and non-traditional maritime safety and security concerns in the region.

With the above in mind, the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) will be hosting the “Second IORA Meeting of Experts for Maritime Safety and Security” at the IDSA, on 7-8 Nov 2017 in New Delhi, India.

This event will consist of an interactive two-day meeting that would present experts from IORA Member States with an opportunity to discuss existing Maritime Safety and Security issues in the Indian Ocean region and to deliberate upon the application of best practices to successfully manage these challenges. In addition, the Meeting would examine proposals and recommendations from the IORA Member States with regard to the management of new as well as existing areas of concern and suggested measures for further enhancing cooperation in Maritime Safety and Security in the region.

The objectives for the Meeting include:

• Discussions on security dynamics and requirements of the various dimensions of traditional and non-traditional security challenges in the Indian Ocean region.
• Identification of hurdles in maritime cooperation and coordination among concerned agencies; and formulation of feasible options to address these challenges.
• Enhancement of the capacity of maritime law enforcement officials in managing preventive and responsive measures to protect the maritime domain against threats and unlawful acts.
• Exploring partnerships between IORA and existing maritime security fora.
• Review of existing mechanisms for maritime dispute settlement and consideration of the possibility of setting up a legal experts group for the IORA.

It is envisaged that the “Second IORA Meeting of Experts for Maritime Safety and Security” will result in the creation of an Outcome Document: “Blueprint for Maritime Safety and Security in IORA” which will identify governance, surveillance, and preventive as well as protective measures to deal with threats in the domain of Maritime Safety and Security in the IOR. This document would help to provide guidance for actual implementation of goals in the IORA Action Plan for 2017-2021 and may be developed further to construct a template for the substantive working of the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security.