India Navy's Goa Symposium to be held on Oct 16

The Indian Navy will host the 'Goa Maritime Symposium', aimed at establishing academic excellence and sharing of ideas with the country's maritime neighbours, on October 16, the Navy said Wednesday.

The event is a follow-on to the maiden Goa Maritime Conclave held in 2017.

It is likely to be attended by senior naval officers and representatives from 16 Indian Ocean littoral countries, which include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand from South East Asia; Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka from India's immediate neighbourhood.

It also includes the island nations of Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives; Oman in West Asia; and South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique from Africa.

The Navy said with the Indian Ocean becoming the locus of the 21st century strategic landscape, the symposium will play a constructive role in bringing together stakeholders that have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms in the maritime domain.

The theme for the one-day symposium is 'Building Stronger Maritime Partnerships in IOR'.

The focus of the symposium is on capacity building among IOR navies to tackle emerging maritime threats, as well as discussing cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability among partner maritime agencies, it said.

The event will witness eminent speakers articulating their views on these important issues, which will be followed by theme based discussions. Informal meetings and social engagements are also planned to build synergy and address common concerns with greater engagement, transparency and, more importantly, friendship, it said.

The symposium will be inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff, the statement added.