Indian Naval symposium begins today
Special Correspondent
The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) 2016 will begin in a hotel in the capital from tomorrow to promote international and regional cooperation and collaboration among the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries. President Md Abdul Hamid will inaugurate the three-day long symposium, where the Naval Chiefs of 30 countries, senior naval representatives, head of many International Maritime Organisations and great maritime strategists will attend the event, sources in the Bangladesh Navy said. Bangladesh Navy has organised the international symposium to be ended on January 13.
The IONS) is a multinational maritime security initiative undertaken in 2008 to promote friendly relationship and build professional cooperation among the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) littorals. Currently IONS has 22 members (Australia, Bangladesh, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sicily, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, East Timor, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom) and 04 observer (China, Japan, Malaysia and Madagascar) navies and maritime security agencies. Three seminars- Geo-Strategic and Economic Outlook of IOR would be held in first session, Maritime Security in the IOR to be held in second session and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) would be held in third session of the first day of the symposium. Two other seminars- Maritime Cooperation and Collaboration in the IOR and Future Outlook of IONS would be held on January 12.
