Maritime safety and security is of primordial importance to Indian Ocean Region: Secretary-General
Secretary General of the organisation, Sanjiv Ranjan, said that ensuring maritime security after the war in West Asia will be at the top of the agenda as India chairs the 23-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the leaders’ summit is expected next year.
In addition to raising IORA’s profile, the government is expected to focus on specific challenges arising from the war in West Asia, including violence in the region and Iran and the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, Mr Ranjan hosted the Indian Ocean Dialogue in Delhi, attended by ministers from India, Mauritius and Yemen, as well as representatives from Iran and the United Arab Emirates. To talk HinduWhile bilateral differences were not discussed in the grouping, he said the Gulf war had raised “important” issues for IOR countries.
“Increasing awareness of today’s situation means that maritime safety and security, our energy security, our food security, [and] “Many livelihoods are being destroyed as a result of developments in the Indian Ocean coastal areas,” he said, referring to all countries bordering the Indian Ocean, from the east coast of Africa to Australia.
Making the opening speech of the two-day dialogue, Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ramful said that “the ideal of the Indian Ocean being a zone of peace” has come to nothing with the “coming of war” to the ocean. Mr Ramful wanted US to sink Iranian navy ship IRIS DenaHe described the March attack in which 100 sailors were killed as “outrageous” and also expressed concern over Iranian retaliatory missile strikes using Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) on the US Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands of Mauritius.
“They may not have achieved their objectives, but they still violated our comfortable status quo. They revealed a hitherto unknown offensive intent in our Indian Ocean region,” Mr. Ramful added.
According to the IORA charter, “bilateral and other issues that are likely to create controversy and pose an obstacle to regional cooperation efforts will be excluded from the negotiations.” But Mr Ranjan said they would discuss the “socio-economic” impact of the conflict in talks in eight priority areas: maritime safety and security, trade and investment, fisheries management, disaster risk management, tourism, cultural exchanges, the blue economy and women’s economic empowerment.
“Any disruption in the Indian Ocean will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the regional economy. The tourism sector is particularly badly affected by airline disruptions. Fuel prices have increased significantly in many of our member countries, some have had to close offices and schools. In the long term, inflation, agricultural production and productivity affected by fertilizer shortages will harm the region. There is a major concern: [due to the war] Situations where fishermen cannot go out to sea to fish will impact their livelihood,” said Mr. Ranjan. Hindu.
Mr Ranjan said the IORA Summit in 2027 will mark the 30th anniversary of the organisation, adding that the last time such a summit was held was in 2017, when Indonesia marked IORA’s 20th anniversary in Jakarta. In parallel, India will host the Senior Officials Meeting in June this year, while the IORA Ministerial Council will meet towards the end of 2026.
The Indian Ocean Dialogue, a ‘1.5’ conference for officials, academics and experts co-hosted by IORA and the Ministry of External Affairs and organized by the Indian Council on World Affairs (ICWA), has kicked off a series of meetings expected next year as India seeks to revive IORA. The group was founded in 1997 under the leadership of former South African leader Nelson Mandela. However, for over three decades, IORA has not received the attention that other regional groups such as the now defunct SAARC, BIMSTEC, SCO or the Quad have enjoyed. In addition to its salience in India’s MAHASAGAR maritime policy and Indo-Pacific strategy, IORA is less contentious for India as Pakistan has never been admitted to its ranks, although the IORA charter opens membership to “all sovereign states bordering the Indian Ocean”. Pakistan had sought membership in the early 2000s, but its refusal to grant India “MFN status” for trade was contrary to the IORA charter, which calls for “sovereign equality” or equal treatment of all states, according to officials.
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) currently consists of 23 member countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
In addition, the association is supported by 12 dialogue partners, including China, Egypt, the European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the USA.
It was published – 11 May 2026 12:06 IST
