Indian Council of World Affairs

I warmly welcome you to the Indian Council of World Affairs for the 39th Sapru House Lecture on “25 Years of the Indian Ocean Rim Association: Towards a Prosperous, Sustainable and Peaceful Indian Ocean Region”.  The last, that is 38th Sapru House Lecture was delivered in July, 2021 by H.E. Abdulla Shahid, President-elect of the 76th UN General Assembly and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives – a country which is also an IORA member.  Today, we are very pleased that H.E. Salman Al Farisi, Secretary General of IORA will deliver the 39th Sapru House Lecture.

This year, as we celebrate 25 years of IORA, we recall the year 1997 when the founding members, which included India and Indonesia, met in Mauritius and established the IORA to foster regional co-operation.  Subsequently, India chaired the organization from 2011 to 2013 and it was then that IORA identified six Priority Areas ranging from maritime security to trade and investment, to disaster risk management, fisheries management, tourism and cultural exchanges, as well as cooperation in academics, science and technology.   Along with these Priority areas, two Focus areas of blue economy and women’s economic empowerment were also identified. IORA agenda is, indeed, comprehensive and seeks to address issues that are significant to countries in the region for their collective growth and development.  

We, in ICWA, as the knowledge partner of Ministry of External Affairs, India, organized two Indian Ocean Dialogues - the Track 1.5 dialogue of IORA.  The 6^th   edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue was hosted in New Delhi in 2019 on the theme “Indo-Pacific: Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography”; and 8^th edition on “'Post Pandemic Indian Ocean” was held virtually in 2021.  ICWA chaired the IORA Academic Group (IORAG) during 2019-2021; and in 2021 organized an IORA Capacity Building Workshop on UNCLOS which was addressed by the then Secretary General of IORA.  Thus, ICWA has in a way, been a part of the journey of IORA, and is proud of it.

IORA connects three continents: Asia, Africa and Australia, and in a sense, binds a diverse set of countries in the Indian Ocean region into a regional maritime community in a shared maritime space.  The centrality of the Indian Ocean, to many great civilizations, is well known and, in the present 21st century, the Ocean continues with its importance position – strategically and economically.  Some of the most critical sea-lanes of communication pass through this Ocean.

As a resident nation, India is a major stakeholder in the Indian Ocean Region and the wider Indo-Pacific.  India’s engagement with the littorals of the Indian Ocean is deep.  It was in Mauritius that Prime Minister Narinder Modi announced India’s vision of ‘Sagar’, which stands for ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’.  The seven pillars of Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) announced by Prime Minister Modi in 2019 find complementarity with IORA’s priority areas.  All this makes, India’s partnership with IORA naturally collaborative.

In the Indian Ocean region, challenges to maritime security can come and have come from traditional and non-traditional sources.  Smuggling, piracy and armed robbery have been a major menace to maritime security in the region.  Horn of Africa, particularly, has been a major global hotspot for such attacks.  Then, there are maritime dimensions of terrorism in the region.  To meet these threats effectively, there is need for greater Maritime Domain awareness.  India set up the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region in 2018 in Gurugram.  Its aim is to enhance maritime security and safety by monitoring maritime security related incidents in the region.  I am glad that today, officers and International Liaison Officers from partner countries of the Centre have joined us.

Climate change and IUU fishing   are other challenges that impact human security and livelihoods.  These areas require co-operation among nations.

We are meeting at a time when the world is witnessing intense geopolitical churn with heightened strategic uncertainty, including in the Indo-Pacific region.  Covid-19 has been a big disrupter of the 21st century.  The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has far-reaching consequences.  It is in the interest of IORA Member States to work together for a stable and secure maritime order in the region.  In this context, we look forward to hearing the views of Secretary General, IORA; Amb. Ina Krisnamurthi and Joint Secretary, Indo-Pacific, MEA.

Thank you.

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