Overview
- India’s Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region launched the three-day workshop, drawing practitioners from nearly 30 countries.
- Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti reaffirmed India’s commitment to a safe, secure, collaborative region and stressed trust-based partnerships.
- He warned that piracy, smuggling, IUU fishing, hybrid threats, and environmental risks are intensifying, with Red Sea tensions and a Gulf of Aden piracy resurgence disrupting shipping.
- The program features tailored sessions for BIMSTEC, IORA, and the DCoC/Jeddah Amendment, with inputs from UNODC, ReCAAP ISC, RMIFC, IFC Singapore, the RCoC, and leading shipping firms, plus a tabletop exercise.
- IFC-IOR hosts liaison officers from 15 countries, and officials describe network linkages extending to more than 75 maritime agencies and international fusion centres.