India has been accepted as an observer in the Indian Ocean Commission, getting a seat at the table of the organisation that handles maritime governance in the western Indian Ocean.

Significance of this status

* India will get an official space in a premier regional institution in the western Indian Ocean, promoting engagement with islands in this part of the Indian Ocean.

* These island nations are more important for India’s strategic outreach as part of its Indo-Pacific policy.

* This move would boost ties with France, which is a strong global power in the western Indian Ocean.

* It lends depth to India’s SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region) policy.

* The move would lead to greater security cooperation with countries in East Africa.

* The move also strengthens the western flank of the Indo-Pacific and is a stepping stone to security cooperation with East Africa.

Indian Ocean Commission

The Indian Ocean Commission (COI) is an intergovernmental organisation that was created in 1982 at Port Louis, Mauritius, and institutionalised in 1984 by the Victoria Agreement in Seychelles. The COI is composed of five African Indian Ocean nations - Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France) and Seychelles. Notwithstanding their different characteristics (Reunion is a French overseas region, Mauritius and Seychelles are middle-income countries, whereas Comoros and Madagascar are among the least-developed countries), the five islands share geographic proximity, historical and demographic relationships, natural resources and common development issues.

The COI’s principal mission is to strengthen the ties of friendship between the countries and to be a platform of solidarity for the entire population of the African Indian Ocean region.

The COI’s mission also includes development, through projects related to sustainability for the region, aimed at protecting the region, improving the living conditions of the populations and preserving the various natural resources that the countries depend on. Being an organisation featuring only island states, the COI has usually championed the cause of small island states in regional and international fora.

The COI works on four pillars adopted in 2005 by the summit of heads of states…

* Political and diplomatic cooperation

* Economic and commercial cooperation

* Sustainable development in a globalisation context, cooperation in the field of agriculture, maritime fishing, and the conservation of resources and ecosystems

* Strengthening of the regional cultural identity, cooperation in cultural, scientific, technical, educational and judicial fields.

The original ideas were to encourage trade and tourism. Recently, cooperation has focused on marine conservation and fisheries management. The COI has funded a number of regional and national conservation and alternative livelihoods projects through ReCoMAP (Regional Programme for the Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Countries of the Indian Ocean).

Importance of Indian Ocean Region

Indian Ocean countries have a long history of trade, culture and military interaction with the rest of the world. Today, the Indian Ocean’s traditional status as an international trade highway is more significant than ever before, while international military presence in the ocean is unprecedented.

The region contains one-thirds of the world’s population, 25 per cent of its landmass and 40 per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves.

A major concern of India in the Indian Ocean is energy. India is almost 70 per cent dependent on oil import, a major part of which comes from the Gulf region.

The sea lanes in the Indian Ocean are considered among the most strategically important in the world. More than 80 per cent of the world’s seaborne trade in oil transits through Indian Ocean choke points, with 40 per cent passing through the Strait of Hormuz, 35 per cent through the Strait of Malacca and 8 per cent through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Indian Ocean is an area of conflict. Some conflicts are internal and remain localised, but other local and regional conflicts are of global significance and are prone to foreign political and military interference.

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