"Indian Ocean Region cannot be viewed in isolation to wider maritime space...": Indian Navy Chief
Oct 31, 2023
Panaji (Goa) [India], October 31 : Indian Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar on Tuesday said that the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) cannot be viewed in isolation from wider maritime space around the globe.
Addressing at 4th Goa Maritime Conclave, Navy Chief Hari Kumar said," In all of these endeavours, the Indian Ocean Region cannot be viewed in isolation to wider maritime space around the globe, and this uniting characteristic of oceans was reflected by our Defence Minister during his Key Note Address."
"Hence, my suggestion would be about rationalising and prioritising our efforts under numerous other bilateral, minilateral and multilateral constructs in the IOR be it the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Colombo Security Conclave, among many others," he added.
The Navy chief further recalled the important steps taken in the previous maritime conclaves.
"Identification and promulgation of Common Maritime Priorities (CMPs) during GMC 21 was a logical and crucial first step in that direction. The adoption of CMPs has been a milestone 'Statement of Intent, and a guiding beacon in our collective undertakings under the GMC construct Building on that consensus, GMS 22 concentrated on action-oriented deliberations and has laid a strong foundation for us to convert these Priorities into tangible and actionable mitigation frameworks," he said.
He further pointed out that Goa Maritime Conclave should move forward with an approach that is based on the execution of ideas.
"GMC needs to be a truly functional platform that, not only provokes thoughts and ideas, but also generates collective solutions to our regional problems. Accordingly, as executors of GMC's initiatives, it would be our collective responsibility to successfully implement derived action plans, and establish GMC as the ideal construct to design and deliver maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region,"
The three-day conclave, which commenced on October 29, 2023, was attended by Delegate in Charge of Defence, Comoros Mohamed Ali Youssoufa and Chiefs of Navies/Heads of Maritime Forces/Senior representatives from eleven other Indian Ocean nations - Bangladesh, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The theme for this fourth edition is 'Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region: Converting Common Maritime Priorities into Collaborative Mitigating Frameworks'.
