Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a series of biennial meetings between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. It provides a forum to increase maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states.[1][2][3][4]

History

The symposium was first held in 2008 with India as host. The chairmanship and location of the Symposium rotates between the various member states.[5][6][7][8] Each term of chairmanship is two years.[9]

Role

IONS is a security construct for the Indian Ocean region which is similar to the Western Pacific Naval Symposium. It is a voluntary initiative among the navies and maritime security agencies of the member nations. In addition to the symposiums, numerous other activities like workshops, essay competitions and lectures are also held under the umbrella of the organization.[1]

Members and observers

The 25 member nations of the IONS are grouped into four sub-regions.[1][10][11]

Members

Sub region Member Accession
South Asian Bangladesh
India February 2008
Maldives
Pakistan March 2014[12]
Seychelles
Sri Lanka
West Asian Iran
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
UAE
East African France[a]
Kenya
Mauritius
Mozambique
South Africa
Tanzania
Eritrea
South East Asian and Australian Australia
Indonesia
Malaysia
Myanmar
Singapore
Thailand
Timor Leste

Observers

There are nine states with observer status[10]

List of symposiums

Year Edition Host Dates Notes
2008 1st India 14–16 February 2008
2010 2nd United Arab Emirates 10–12 May 2010
2012 3rd South Africa 10–14 April 2012 [13]
2014 4th Australia 26 March 2014 [14]
2016 5th Bangladesh 11–13 January 2016 [15]
2018 6th Iran 22–25 April 2018 [16]
2021 7th Réunion and Paris June 2021 [16]
2023 8th Thailand 19–22 December 2023 [16]
2025 9th India 20 February 2026 [9][17]

The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium was held at Réunion, France. But during that, it was agreed upon to conduct the extant conclave of Chiefs in Paris. Eventually, in November 2021 the conclave was concluded in Paris, France.

The ninth edition of IONS Conclave of Chiefs hosted in Visakhapatnam, simultaneously with the International Fleet Review 2026 and exercise MILAN 2026, had Chiefs of Navies and Heads of Maritime Security Agencies from 33 countries. During the conclave, the Philippines joined as an observer while Oman joined the IONS Working Group on HADR.[9][17]

Notes

  1. ^ Represented by Indian Ocean overseas region of Mayotte and Réunion.

References

  1. ^ a b c "About IONS". Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  2. ^ "Indian Ocean Naval Symposium". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  3. ^ Tewari, Sharad; Khanijo, Dr Roshan (2016-10-10). The Indo Pacific Region: Security Dynamics and Challenges. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9789385563300.
  4. ^ Rumley, Dennis; Doyle, Timothy (2016-04-14). Indian Ocean Regionalism. Routledge. ISBN 9781317585978.
  5. ^ "India, China to join Indian Ocean exercise". Defence Reporter. The Hindu. 13 August 2017. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019.
  6. ^ Limaye, Satu (April 2017). "Weighted West, Focused on the Indian Ocean and Cooperating across the Indo-Pacific: The Indian Navy's New Maritime Strategy, Capabilities, and Diplomacy" (PDF). CNA.
  7. ^ "China-India Brief #99 | Centre on Asia and Globalization". Archived from the original on 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  8. ^ journals.christuniversity.in/index.php/artha/article/download/1569/1314
  9. ^ a b c Rao, V. Kamalakara (2026-02-20). "India takes over IONS chair after 16 years at Naval Chiefs' conclave". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  10. ^ a b "IONS Working Groups | Indian Ocean Naval Symposium". www.ions.global. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  11. ^ Mahmud, Tarek (27 November 2017). "President inaugurates 32-nation naval exercise". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  12. ^ IANS (2017-07-26). "10-nation Indian Ocean Naval Symposium ends in Pakistan". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  13. ^ "Indian Ocean Naval Symposium - 2012 | Indian Ocean Naval Symposium". ions.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  14. ^ "Indian Ocean Naval Symposium - 2014 | Indian Ocean Naval Symposium". ions.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  15. ^ "5th biennial assembly of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium kicks off in Bangladeshi capital - Xinhua | English.news.cn". news.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  16. ^ a b c "Indian Ocean Naval Symposium".
  17. ^ a b "India assumes the chairmanship of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 2026-02-20. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
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