President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has highlighted the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has in recent times truly come into the forefront of global politics, due to the prolific amount of commercial, cultural and political activity taking place therein.
Delivering the opening remarks at the 4th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) held at Paradise Island Resort, President Solih expressed Maldives, being located at the heart of this important region, understands well the need to find common ground and effectively organise in order to meet the mutual challenges confronted by countries across the region.
Elaborating on these sentiments the president noted particularly salient issues such as climate change, the proper implementation of maritime law as delineated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and combatting illicit trafficking of humans and narcotics. Further, he spoke with regard to the need for countries from across the region to come together to confront the threats of terrorism and violent extremism.
President Solih noted that in meeting these challenges, the countries of the IOR must enhance intra-regional cooperation through participating in and strengthening formal intergovernmental bodies devoted to that end, highlighting the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in particular.
The president noted that the Maldives is highly appreciative that the country have become a party to IORA and expressed his administration is eager to contribute to the body once the membership is formalised at the next IORA Council of Ministers (COM) meeting, due to be held in October.
With regard to the ongoing conference, he expressed his optimism that it will prove to be a fruitful one, especially in light of the distinguished body who have come to participate, whose collective sagacity will prove more than equal to the task of formulating novel solutions to the challenges the region confronts.
IOC is organised by India Foundation in association with Government of Maldives and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. The theme of IOC 2019 is Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and Non-Traditional Challenges.