Context: 

The 7th session of the Indian Ocean Conference will be held at Perth, Australia.

Indian Ocean Conference 2024: Theme and Participants

• Theme: Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean
• Participants: The Conference will feature Ministers from over 22 countries and senior officials from 16 countries and 6 multilateral organizations. 

Key Outcomes Of Indian Ocean Conference 2024

• Strategic upgradation: The IOC has now been upgraded to a  ‘track 1’ diplomacy from  a ‘track 1.5’.
  • Track 1 Diplomacy:  It is a kind of official diplomacy, where communication is directly between or among governments conducted by diplomats, heads of state, and other official authorities. 
• Proposed Inclusion: Over 60 percent of global container traffic and 70 percent of energy trade pass through the Indian Ocean region, therefore there is a need for the inclusion of economic angle in the future conferences by  bringing business leaders and economists together.
• Collective self-alliance: To keep open  the channels of consultations and to jointly address concerns and to  build reliable and resilient supply chains spread across a larger area.
• Developing lateral land-based connectivity:  There is a need to supplement and complement the maritime flows across the Indian Ocean Region by developing land based connectivity.
  • Projects like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway can together be instrumental in  connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic.
• Restore seamlessness: A collaborative effort to develop a robust regional architecture example: on the lines of ASEAN and staying connected in inter-penetrative ways can ensure the goal of seamlessness  in the Indian Ocean region.

About Indian Ocean Conference 

• It is a  flagship consultative forum for countries in the Indian Ocean Region to discuss regional affairs.
• Organized by: It is an annual event being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in association with the India Foundation since 2016
• Purpose: To bring on a common platform for the members of the Indian Ocean Region and principal maritime partners of the region to deliberate upon the prospects of regional cooperation for Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).

Indian Ocean Region

• The Indian Ocean region holds tremendous geopolitical, geo-economic, and geostrategic importance.
• Extent: IT extends from the eastern coast of Africa to the western coast of Australia including the Arab Gulf, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia to the Straits of Malacca and Southern Ocean Islands  encompassing  nearly 38 countries within it.
• Connectivity: The IOR serves as an Important transit route bridging  the gap between  East and the West through important choke points, such as the Straits of Malacca, Straits of Hormuz, Bab el Mandeb, and Ombai and Wetar Straits.

Challenges In Indian Ocean Region

• Threats to maritime traffic: Conflicts between regional players and their outcomes in the form of increasing instability through rising crimes like smuggling, piracy and terrorism pose a significant threat to maritime traffic in the region.
  • Example: Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting shipping containers passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea with missiles.
• Challenges to international law: Disregard for International Laws like the UNCLOS by some countries raises concerns about freedom of navigation and overflights, and safeguarding of sovereignty and independence  
• Militarisation  of the IOR: The region is witnessing increasing presence of  warships and submarines with India, The U.S.A,  Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and China all increasing their naval presence in the Indian Ocean significantly
  • Example: The presence of Chinese research vessels in Maldives 
• Debt trap: Smaller countries are increasingly falling prey to economic vulnerability by risking unsustainable debts, unviable projects and injudicious choices. Example: Hambantota port of Sri Lanka 
• Strategic competition: The Balance of Power Axis has shifted to the Indian Ocean Region with it being the playground for great power competition between the USA and China decreasing the space for maneuverability for littoral states in the region.
• China’s increasing Presence: Chinese moves in the region is shaking the strategic balance in the region with increasing Chinese maritime confrontations with other countries in the region and China also host a parallel Indian Ocean Region forum
  • Example: The South China Sea conflict.
• Climate crisis: The growing incidence of sea level rise and sinking of small Island states like  Maldives and Indonesia will create a population Refugee Crisis across the Region  

Significance of Indian Ocean Region For India

• Strategic location: India is located at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean with its strategic  positioning at the center of the Ocean, with over 7,500 kilometers of coastline.
• Trade: Indian Ocean accounts for  95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 68 per cent of trade by value.
• Oil dependence: 80 per cent of India’s crude oil requirement of 3.28 million barrels per day is imported by sea and  overall dependence is 93%, considering the offshore oil production and petroleum exports.
  • India is also the fourth-largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with about 45 per cent coming by sea.
• Resource dependence: 
  • Fisheries:  India is the third largest fish-producing country, contributing 8 percent to the global fish production with the total share of  marine fish production of 4.12 Million Tonnes. It is also  among the top 5 fish exporting countries in the world.
  • Mineral resource extraction: India has the Exclusive Rights to explore the Central Indian Ocean Ridge granted by  the International Seabed Authority for deep seabed mining. This region is estimated to have massive reserves of manganese, as well as cobalt, nickel, and copper, lithium etc  important for driving Industrial Revolution 4.0
• Security: India has assumed the role of Net security provider in the IOR region with the Largest network of surveillance and vigilance operations in the Indian Ocean Region  preventing crimes such as  Smuggling, illegal fishing, and human trafficking, piracy, terrorism etc
  • Example: Indian coast guard diluting piracy attempts in the Red Sea
•  Humanitarian and Disaster relief role: India also is the First Responder in the Region during any crisis situation in the spirit of Neighbourhood First.  Example: Operation Raahat in Yemen or providing Fresh Drinking water to Maldives 
• Geo-strategic importance: To keep a check on the growing Chinese Expansionism by controlling the choke points in the Indian Ocean.

News Source: AIR