The fourth Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) 2019, kicked off on Tuesday, at Paradise Island Resort.
The conference began with the nationals anthem of Maldives and India, after which a panel including President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wikremesighe, Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar addressed the fora.
Following the distribution of Mementos between Sri Lanka and India, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid extended his vote of thanks.
The conference is organized by India Foundation in association with the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
This year's theme for IOC is 'Securing the Indian Ocean region: Traditional and Non-Traditional Challenges', with three broader areas of discussion including Marine Ecology, Terrorism and Navigational Security.
IOC provides an opportunity for stakeholders to deliberate on an institutional framework for managing threats to regional peace and human security.
The conference will be addressed by 50 representatives from 37 countries, including President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.
In addition, ministers from 17 countries, officials from 16 countries and scholars from over 10 countries are scheduled to share their knowledge.
More than 250 Delegates from over 40 countries including members of parliament, armed forces, ambassadors, senior diplomats, senior bureaucrats, prominent authors, academicians and media personnel will attend the conference.
The first edition of OIC was hosted in Singapore in 2016. This was followed by two successive editions in Sri Lanka and Vietnam respectively.
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