5TH INDIAN OCEAN CONFERENCE: FOCUS ON GLOBAL POWER AXIS IN REGION

The Fifth Indian Ocean held in Abu Dhabi focuses on the global power axis and the importance of the Indo-Pacific in the international system.

Speaking at the conference India Foundation’s Ram Madhav focused on the changes in the global power axis and highlighted the importance of the Indo-Pacific in it. “It’s through this ocean that 70 percent of world’s containers and 50 percent of energy lines pass and the Indian Ocean is the centre of the global power axis in the 21st century,” he said.

“For some Indian Ocean and by an extension Indo-Pacific is a strategy but for us the countries in the region it’s destiny,” he added.

The theme of this year’s conference revolves focus upon ecology, economy and epidemic and the conference is being organised by India Foundation in collaboration with the RSIS Singapore, Institute of National Security Studies, Sri Lanka, and the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, UAE.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar touched upon US policy in the region “Since 2008 we’ve witnessed greater caution in US power projection and an effort to correct its overextension,” said the External Affairs Minister.

The conference also addressed the power-parity in the global system and there were around 200 delegates and over 50 speakers from 30 countries. The conference also touched upon issues related to rising sea levels, climate change and issues concerning the littoral states in the region.

Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama in his address focused on the concerns on rising sea level and the impact it has on littoral states “Fiji has faced critical problems with the rise in sea levels and climate change,” he said.