Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a series of biennial meetings between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. It provides a forum to increase maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states.^[1][2][3][4]

History

The symposium was first held in 2008 with India as host. The chairmanship and location of the Symposium rotates between the various member states.^[5][6][7][8]

Role

IONS is a security construct for the Indian Ocean region which is similar to the Western Pacific Naval Symposium. It is a voluntary initiative among the navies and maritime security agencies of the member nations. In addition to the symposiums, numerous other activities like workshops, essay competitions and lectures are also held under the umbrella of the organization.^[1]

Members and observers

Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
Dark blue = member States
Light blue = observers

The 25 member nations of the IONS are grouped into four sub-regions.^[1][9][10]

Members

Sub region	Member	Accession
South Asian	Bangladesh
	India	February 2008
	Maldives
	Pakistan	March 2014[11]
	Seychelles
	Sri Lanka
West Asian	Iran
	Oman
	Saudi Arabia
	Qatar
	UAE
East African	France[A]
	Kenya
	Mauritius
	Mozambique
	South Africa
	Tanzania
	Eritrea
South East Asian and Australian	Australia
	Indonesia
	Malaysia
	Myanmar
	Singapore
	Thailand
	Timor Leste

1. Because of Mayotte and Réunion.

Observers

There are eight states with observer status:^{[citation needed]}

•  China
•  Germany
•  Italy
•  Japan
•  Madagascar
•  Netherlands
•  Russia
•  Spain

List of symposiums

Year	Edition	Host	Dates	Notes
2008	1st	India	14–16 February 2008
2010	2nd	United Arab Emirates	10–12 May 2010
2012	3rd	South Africa	10–14 April 2012	[12]
2014	4th	Australia	26 March 2014	[13]
2016	5th	Bangladesh	11–13 January 2016	[14]
2018	6th	Iran	22–25 April 2018	[15]
2021	7th	Réunion and Paris	June 2021	[15]
2023	8th	Thailand	Dec 19-22 2023	[15]
2025	9th	India	End of 2025	[16]

The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium was held at Réunion, France. But during that, it was agreed upon to conduct the extant conclave of Chiefs in Paris. Eventually in November 2021 the conclave was concluded in Paris, France.