China Holds Its First Meeting With 19 Countries in Indian Ocean Region Without India

What’s in today’s article?

• Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) – About, pillars, significance
• News Summary

Why In News?

• Recently, China convened a first “China-Indian Ocean Region Forum” bringing together 19 countries from the region.
• Experts believe that the Chinese forum apparently is aimed at countering India’s strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) have taken strong roots.

IORA

• IORA is an inter-governmental organisation which was established in March 1997.
  • It was formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC).
• The IORA Secretariat is based in Mauritius. It became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015.
• Members – It has 23 Member States and 9 Dialogue Partners.
  • China is a dialogue partner in the IORA.
• Objectives
  • To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region;
  • To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits;
  • To promote liberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the Indian Ocean rim.

Priority Pillars

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Significance

• The IOR has always made significant contributions to the world economy.
• The region is home to 35% of the world’s population and also accounts for 19% of total GDP
• Moreover, 80% of seaborne trade uses routes through the Indian Ocean.
• Furthermore, 80% of seaborne oil trade and 100,000 commercial vessels depend on this route every year.

News Summary

• The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation.
  • CIDCA is an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
• The meeting was attended by 19 countries from the region – and all of India’s neighbours, except for India itself.

Key highlights

• Theme
  • The meeting was held in a hybrid manner under the theme of “Shared Development: Theory and Practice from the Perspective of the Blue Economy”.
• Participating countries
  • Participating countries included – Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia and representatives of 3 international organisations were present.
  • India was not invited.
• Marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism
  • China proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region.
  • China expressed its willingness to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need.

China is looking to increase its presence in IOR

• China is contending for influence in the strategic Indian Ocean region with substantial investments in ports and infrastructure in several countries.
• China has established a full-fledged naval base in Djibouti, its first outside the country.
• It has acquired the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on a 99-year lease besides building the port at Pakistan’s Gwadar in the Arabian Sea opposite India’s western coast.
• China has also invested in infrastructure of the Maldives.

India’s presence in IOR

• India has strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the IORA have taken strong roots.
• PM Modi has proposed “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region.
• The Indian Navy-backed ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region.