The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) hosted the 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue and the 11th edition of the Delhi dialogue i.e., Delhi Dialogue XI in New Delhi from December 13-14, 2019. It was for the 1st time these two Track 1.5 dialogue (discussion involving officials and non-officials, business leaders, business organisations and all possible nondiplomats of two states/countries)were held consecutively and on similar Indo-Pacific themes.
Indian Ocean Dialogue Theme: The 2019 theme for 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue was “Indo-Pacific: Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography”.
Delhi Dialogue Theme: The 2019 theme for the 11th Delhi Dialogue was “Advancing Partnership in Indo-Pacific”.
6th Indian Ocean Dialogue & Delhi Dialogue XI highlights:
- Organisers:
- 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue: The dialogue was organised in assistance with the Indian Council for World Affairs(ICWA).
- Delhi Dialogue XI:The dialogue was organized with the assistance of the Research and Information System (RIS) for developing countries.
- Themes: The themes were intended to build upon the growing recognition of the Indo-Pacific concept in strategic and academic circles within this region. These two dialogues were key elements of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and the India-ASEAN calendars respectively
- High level delegates Participation: Retno Marsudi, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia; AK Abdul Momin, Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar India’s MEA, senior officials from various countries as well as the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) at the Delhi Dialogue as well as the Foreign Secretaries; IORA Secretary General Nomvuyo Nokwe and others were present during both the events.
- Participated Countries: Academicians and scholars from policy institutes, universities and international institutions in Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Sri Lanka, Russia, South Africa, Bangladesh, UAE(United Arab Emirates), Oman, Iran, Mauritius, US(United States), Kenya and India participated.
Other Associated events:
1st Expert Group Meeting on Academics, Science and Technology of IORA:
Prior to hosting both the dialogues, MEA hosted 1st Expert Group Meeting on Academics, Science and Technology of IORA. The meeting was hosted to promote structured cooperation on academics, science, and technology among the 22 member states of IORA. The meeting was hosted by India’s Department of Science and Technology(DST).
6th Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG) meeting:
On December 12, 2019, prior to hosting the dialogues MEA also hosted the 6th Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG) meeting. It was a Track-II mechanism (discussions between non-officials of two states/countries only) with an advisory and catalytic role regarding policy-making among IORA members.
6th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting:
The 6th India-Indonesia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) co-chaired by Dr. S. Jaishankar and Retno Marsudi, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia was held on 13 December 2019 in New Delhi.
Both the nations agreed to strengthen areas of defence, security, connectivity, trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges. They also emphasised the need to hold regular meetings of existing bilateral institutional mechanisms, including in areas of trade, energy, defence, security and counter-terrorism.
- The year 2019 also marks India and Indonesia’s 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
About Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA):
Founded- 7 March 1997; Members: 22 and 9 Dialogue partners.
Headquarters- Mauritius.
Former name- Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC).
Secretary General- Dr Nomvuyo Nokwe.
