India, Australia and France held talks for the first time under a trilateral framework with focus on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese military assertiveness.

The virtual meeting on September 9 was co-chaired by foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, secretary-general in French ministry for Europe and foreign affairs Franois Delattre and secretary in Australian department of foreign affairs Frances Adamson.

Highlights of the meeting

The focus of the first India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue was on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region.

The meeting was held with the objective of building on the strong bilateral ties that the three countries share with each other and synergise their respective strengths to ensure a peaceful, secure, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific Region.

The three sides agreed to hold the dialogue on an annual basis.

They discussed economic and geo-strategic challenges and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic responses to the crisis.

The three countries also had an exchange on the priorities, challenges and trends in regional and global multilateral institutions, including the best ways to strengthen and reform multilateralism.

Cooperation on marine global commons and potential areas for practical partnership at the trilateral and regional level were also discussed, including through regional organisations such as ASEAN, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Indian Ocean Commission.

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is an inter-governmental organisation formed in 1997 to foster regional economic cooperation. IORA has evolved into the peak regional group spanning the Indian Ocean.

IORA has 22 member states and 10 dialogue partners, stretching from South Africa in the west, running up the eastern coast of Africa, along the Gulf to South and Southeast Asia, ending with Australia in the east.

India is one of the founding members of IORA. 

It is one of the primary platforms for promoting dialogue based approaches to seek a safe, secure and stable region that delivers shared prosperity for all.

Objectives of IORA:

• Promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and member states.

• Focus on those areas of economic co-operation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits.

• Promote liberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment and technology within the Indian Ocean rim.

These objectives are underpinned by the principle of open regionalism.

From its inception with 14 member states, the membership has expanded to 22 countries. They are:

Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  

IORA has ten dialogue partners: China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Its apex body is the Council of Foreign Ministers that meets annually.

The IORA Secretariat is located in Mauritius.

IORA does not have a regular summit mechanism. The first and only IORA Leaders’ Summit was held in 2017 in Jakarta on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of formation of IORA.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store