The Indian Ocean Conference is a flagship consultative forum for countries in the Indian Ocean Region, organized annually by the Ministry of External Affairs, in association with the India Foundation.
The 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Conference was held in Perth, Australia on 9-10 February, 2024 in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Australia, along with S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore and Perth-US Asia Centre in Australia. The theme of this edition of the conference is “Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean”.
External Affairs Minister of India, H.E. Dr. S Jaishankar addressed the inaugural session of the Conference, along with H.E. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka, Ms Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia and Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore.
The 7th Indian Ocean Conference was also bringing together delegations led by Ministers from over 22 countries and senior officials from 16 countries and 6 multilateral organizations. The Conference also witnessed the participation of over 400 social and corporate leaders, policy practitioners, scholars, professionals, and media personnel from about 40 countries.
Since its debut in 2016 in Singapore, over the years, the Indian Ocean Conference has played an important role in bringing together countries and principal maritime partners of the region together on a common platform to deliberate upon the prospects of regional cooperation for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).