Indian Ocean Confce: Enhancing co-operation key objective
PM to open the 2-day event today; 150 representatives from 25 countries to attend it
The two-day Indian Ocean Conference begins in Dhaka today as the coastal countries aspire to establish the region as a free, open, inclusive, prosperous and peaceful one.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the conference titled "Peace, Prosperity and Partnership for Resilient Future".
The event is being jointly organised by the India Foundation, and the foreign ministry of Bangladesh at the hotel InterContinental Dhaka.
Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun, Maldives Vice President Faisal Naseem, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Afreen Akhter, Sychelles Minister of Internal Affairs Errol Fonseka, Madagascar Defense Minister Josoa Rakotoarijaona, Sri Lankan Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, Singapore's Minister in the Prime Minster's Office Maliki Osman, and Bhutan Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji have already arrived in Dhaka to join the event.
Delegates from Nepal, Bahrain, Japan, Cambodia, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Somalia, Vietnam, the Philippines, the US, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Thailand and Germany and D-8, Saarc and BIMSTEC will also take part in the conference.
The event will bring together about 150 high-level representatives from at least 25 countries.
The participating nations will have an idea about the actions they might have to take in future amid the ongoing world events, said foreign ministry officials.
"The entire Indian Ocean region is very important. Everyone needs to work together on how to make the most of the region's changing geopolitical and geo-economic potentials."
Bangladesh will be able to use the information shared in the event to decide on the issues it needs to deal with, they added.
"The entire Indian Ocean region is very important. Everyone needs to work together on how to make the most of the region's changing geopolitical and geo-economic potentials. Besides, regional stability is essential in the current global context," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told journalists on Wednesday.
Bangladesh's partnership with the countries in the Indian Ocean region will be strengthened through hosting the IOC, he added.
Bangladesh and India, as two responsible states, are committed to ensure the rise of a "free, open, inclusive and rules-based" Indian Ocean region, according to the concept note of the conference.
The global order is rapidly evolving, power axis is shifting, and the complacency of the past is making way for greater confidence in future, it says.
Marking the event, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has highlighted the need for cooperation among the countries to combat unconventional security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, according to the Facebook page of India Foundation.
Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has stated that the discussions about India's maritime interests should go beyond the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean Conference began in 2016 in Singapore. The subsequent events were held in Sri Lanka in 2017, Vietnam in 2018, the Maldives in 2019, and the UAE in 2021.