Australia has announced a grant of AUD 1.4 Million (INR 8.12 Crore) under the newly launched ‘Australia-India Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative Partnership (AIIPOIP)’ programme of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI).
- AIIPOIP is a grants programme which will help deliver practical outcomes outlined in the IPOI.
- It is an initiative under Australia-India Joint Declaration on a ‘Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific’. The Joint Declaration is part of the Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in June, 2020.
Key Points
i.The grant programme will encourage proposals from Australian and Indian stakeholders to share expertise and resources.
ii.The activities to be carried out will complement the work being done under existing regional mechanisms such as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and the Pacific Islands Forum.
Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI)
- It was launched in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to safeguard the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific region. It has outlined 7 pillars to achieve this.
- Australia is lead partner on the Maritime Ecology Pillar. It will share best practices on reducing marine pollution (with focus on plastic waste). Recently, France had joined the ‘Maritime Resources’ pillar of IPOI.
EU releases Indo-Pacific Strategy
European Union (EU) has released a strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
- It aims for ‘regional stability, security, prosperity, and sustainable development’.
- With this, the EU has joined Organizations like ASEAN which have their own outlook on the Indo-Pacific vision.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 1, 2020 India, Japan and Australia agreed to launch a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) in the Indo-Pacific region. It will help in building a resilient supply chain with focus on free, transparent trade & investment environments in the region.
About Australia:
Prime Minister – Scott Morrison
Capital – Canberra
Currency – Australian Dollar (AUD)
