Naval officials from India, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Oman have gathered here to attend the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Working Group Meeting on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
The three-day meet, which began today, would deliberate upon framing of common standard operating procedures for the Navies in Indian Ocean Region to handle contingencies arriving out of the natural calamities collectively.
The inaugural session of the IONS Working Group Meeting on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) is being held at the headquarters of the Western Naval Command here, in which representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Oman and Indonesia are attending, a Defence spokesperson said.
The IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008. It seeks to enhance maritime co-operation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues.
Since its inception, much headway has been made by IONS through four Conclave of Chiefs, technical workshops and operational seminars on contemporary and relevant topics as diverse as piracy and HADR.
