Jaishankar to attend two-day summit of 7th Indian Ocean Conference in Perth

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend the 7th Indian Ocean Conference in Australia's Perth scheduled to begin on Friday with the theme "Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean."

The two-day conference is set to be held on February 9, 10 in Perth.

The Indian Ocean Conference is a flagship consultative forum for countries in the Indian Ocean Region, organized annually by the Ministry of External Affairs, in association with the India Foundation.

The conference will be held in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia, along with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore and the Perth-US Asia Centre in Australia.

"The theme of this edition of the conference is Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Moreover, EAM Jaishankar will address the inaugural session of the conference, along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Singaporean Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

The conference will bring together delegations led by ministers from over 22 countries senior officials from 16 countries and 6 multilateral organizations.

"The Conference will also witness the participation of over 400 social and corporate leaders, policy practitioners, scholars, professionals, and media personnel from about 40 countries," the statement said.

The first Indian Ocean Conference was held in 2016 in Singapore, and over the years, it has "played an important role in bringing together countries and principal maritime partners of the region together on a common platform to deliberate upon the prospects of regional cooperation for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).

Last week, Jaishankar met Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green and discussed the bilateral partnership between the two countries.

Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, announced last year that Australia will host the Indian Ocean Conference 2024 and it will be an opportunity to discuss practical solutions for the key challenges facing the region.

In the last six years, the Conference has emerged as a consultative forum for countries in the region over regional affairs.