8th Indian Ocean Dialogue- Highlights

The eighth Indian Ocean Dialogue was held on December 15, 2021.

Key Facts

• The dialogue was jointly hosted by External Affairs Ministry and Indian Council of World Affairs.
• Dialogue was hosted under the theme- “Leveraging Digital Technologies for Health, Education, Development, and Trade in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member States”.

Highlights of the address

• During the dialogue, Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh noted the need of greater collaboration among IORA Member States in order to recover from pandemic.
• He also highlighted the critical role of new and emerging technologies and re-affirmed India’s readiness to collaborate on it.

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

IORA was formerly known as Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and Indian Ocean Rim Initiative. It is an international organisation comprising of 23 states which share borders with the Indian Ocean. It is a regional forum, tripartite in nature. It brings together representatives of Government, Academia and Business to promote co-operation and closer interaction between them.

Principles of IORA

IORA is based on the principles of Open Regionalism to strengthen Economic Cooperation, especially on Trade Facilitation & Investment, Promotion and Social Development of the region.

Secretariat of IORA

Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is situated at Ebene in Mauritius.

History of IORA

IORA was first established in March 1995, as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative. It was formally launched in March 1997 with the conclusion of a multilateral treaty called “Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation”.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2021