India to host Indian Ocean Rim Association foreign ministers in New Delhi

India is preparing to host the foreign ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in New Delhi in the last week of November, as the current chair of the 23-member grouping.

New Delhi assumed the chairmanship in November 2025 for a two-year term until 2027. It has framed its tenure around the themes of innovation, openness, resilience and adaptability under its MAHASAGAR vision - Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. The doctrine builds on earlier SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) thinking, prioritising practical cooperation across the Indian Ocean.

Invitations have been sent to member states including Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, Mauritius foreign minister Dhananjay (Ritish) Ramful, Indonesian foreign minister Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir. Gulf states like Yemen, UAE, Oman, several East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania,- South Africa & France, which has territories in the Indian ocean, are part of the grouping.

In June 2026, India organised an in-person meeting of the IORA Committee of Senior Officials in New Delhi after a three-year gap and finalised the agenda for the annual Council of Ministers session it will host later this year. Earlier, from 8–13 December 2025, India held a week-long capacity-building programme for IORA officials in New Delhi.

During its chairship, India has also hosted IORA’s flagship Track 1.5 Indian Ocean Dialogue in New Delhi on 7–8 May 2026. India and Australia, as co-leads of the IORA Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security, hosted a Search and Rescue tabletop exercise at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai from 17–19 June 2026. The workshop aimed to strengthen maritime safety and security cooperation in the region and help member states enhance their search-and-rescue capabilities.

India has indicated plans to host an IORA leaders’ summit in 2027 to mark the organisation’s 30th anniversary. The last such summit was held roughly a decade ago, in March 2017 in Jakarta under Indonesian leadership, to commemorate the grouping’s 20th anniversary. That gathering produced the Jakarta Concord on maritime cooperation for a peaceful and prosperous Indian Ocean.

IORA, established in 1997 and headquartered in Mauritius, focuses on economic cooperation, sustainable development and regional stability. Its work covers maritime safety and security, the blue economy, fisheries, trade and investment, disaster risk management and women’s economic empowerment. Dialogue partners including the United States, China, Japan and the United Kingdom also take part in meetings.

Last year the organisation adopted a strategic framework to tackle marine debris, reflecting concern that the Indian Ocean’s geography leaves its shores especially vulnerable to plastic pollution entering the marine food chain. Parallel practical guidelines address illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as humanitarian assistance and search-and-rescue cooperation.

The forthcoming Delhi meeting is expected to take stock of progress under India’s chairship and set priorities ahead of the planned 2027 summit, at a time when the Indian Ocean remains central to global energy flows, container trade and supply chains.