IONS 10th anniversary celebrations to begin today

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is celebrating its 10th anniversary here starting today.

The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC accompanied by Reena Lanba, president of Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA), arrived here on November 12 for the commemorative activities of the event scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, read a statement.

On his arrival at the Naval Air Station, INS Garuda, Admiral Lanba was received by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, AVSM, NM, VSM, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Southern Naval Command.

Admiral Sunil Lanba is the chief guest for the inaugural event, the IONS Seminar, which will be held at the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre. Also present would be Chiefs and senior representatives from the navies of the majority of the member nations. He would also be flagging off the "Tall Ships' Sail Together" event on Wednesday.

In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - 'SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region), the theme for the 10th anniversary seminar is "IONS as a Catalyst for SAGAR".

'SAGAR' is in consonance with India's 'Act East' policy and the nation's diplomatic, economic and military outreach in the region.

Out of the total of 32 countries which constitute the total membership of IONS, 26 would be participating in the seminar which aims to discuss maritime issues pertaining to cooperative capacity-building to deal with common security concerns in the region, the statement added.

The IONS initiative endeavours to generate a flow of information among naval professionals so as to enable a common understanding of regional maritime issues and in turn, facilitate generation of mutually beneficial maritime security outcomes.