IORA's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific was adopted at the 22nd COM meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24 November 2022
- In its quest ‘to develop a statement to help guide IORA’s engagement and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region including with other regional organisations as soon as possible’, as per the Dhaka Ministerial Communique in 17 November 2021, India, as the lead country has been making all efforts to reach out to the IORA Member States in the process to develop and finalize the IORA Vision document on the Indo-Pacific, which was finally adopted at the last COM Meeting in November 2022.
- The Indian Ocean Rim is an essential part of the Indo-Pacific region of which IORA is a prominent regional organization with 2.5 billion people residing in its Member States. IORA has thus a strong interest in ensuring peace, prosperity, economic cooperation, maritime safety and security, and stability for all the peoples of the Indo-Pacific region.
- The interconnectedness of the Indian and Pacific Oceans is fundamental to understanding the Indo-Pacific region. This large maritime area spreads across the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, and the Eastern and Southern Africa, and is home to about 64% of global population.
- The Indo-Pacific region has attracted global attention and is driven by common opportunities and challenges. States and regional organizations have referred to the Indo-Pacific region in their statements.
- Principles as enunciated in the IORA Charter would benefit the Indo-Pacific region: sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful co-existence and mutual benefit; promotion of principles of good governance, adherence with international law, in particular, the UN Charter, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and other relevant UN Treaties and International Conventions, as applicable.
