Indian Foreign Minister participates in 23rd Council of Ministers meeting of Indian Ocean Rim Association in Colombo

Source: The post is based on the article “Indian Foreign Minister participates in 23rd Council of Ministers meeting of Indian Ocean Rim Association in Colombo” published in “TOI” on 13th October 2023

What is the News?

India has participated in the 23rd Council of Ministers(COM) meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

What is the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)?

IORA is an inter-governmental organization established in 1997.

Aim: To strengthen regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean Region.

Members: It has 23 Member States which are: Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Dialogue Partners: It has 11 dialogue partners: China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Priority areas of IORA: 

Secretariat: Ebène, Mauritius.

What are the key highlights from the 23rd Council of Ministers(COM) meeting of IORA?

Sri Lanka assumed the Chairmanship of IORA for the term 2023-25.

India assumed the role of the Vice Chair of IORA for the year 2023-25 followed by the Chairmanship in 2025-27.

Countries adopted the Colombo Communique at the end of the meeting.=

Agreements signed between India and Sri Lanka on the sidelines of the summit: India and Sri Lanka signed 3 agreements on bilateral cooperation regarding: 1) Indian assistance for housing projects 2) Modernizing schools and 3) New joint project between the Indian National Dairy Development Board, Amul cooperative and the Sri Lankan Cargill Group to increase milk production in Sri Lanka.