20th IORA Council of Ministers Meeting Held in UAE

The 20th edition of the IORA Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting was on December 17 via video conferencing under the Chairmanship of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The theme of the meeting was “Promoting a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity in the Indian Ocean”.
The COM-20 was inaugurated by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE.
The UAE assumed the position of the IORA Chair in November 2019 during the 19th COM, for the period 2019-2021.
The Indian delegation was led by Shri V. Muraleedharan, MoS, Ministry of External Affairs.
All 22 Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners participated in the virtual meeting to discuss ways in coordinating efforts to achieve IORA’s vision for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean region as outlined in the Jakarta Concord and IORA Action Plan.
During the 2020 COM, France was inducted as the 23rd member state of IORA.
Sri Lanka has assumed the charge of Vice Chair of IORA for the period 2021-23.

The IORA is an inter-governmental organisation which was established on March 7, 1997.
Headquarter : Ebene, Mauritius.
IORA’s apex body is the Council of Foreign Ministers (COM) which meets annually, with the aim of promoting regional cooperation, prosperity, and growth in the Indian Ocean region.
It comprise of 22 Member states and 10 Dialogue partners.
The 22 member states are: Australia, Iran, Bangladesh, the Comoros, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
IORA has ten dialogue partners: China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.