Top brass of 14 navies and maritime forces in Goa for conference

Mumbai: The top brass of 14 navies and maritime forces will converge in Goa for the fifth edition of the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC-26) on Saturday.

Issues like maritime terrorism, contraband smuggling, Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, piracy, armed robbery, and irregular migration will be discussed in the meeting.

The conference will be held at the Naval War College in Goa.

Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth will be the chief guest for the conclave, which has evolved into a premier platform that harnesses the collective wisdom and operational experience of maritime security practitioners from the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to generate outcome-oriented ideas and practical solutions to contemporary maritime challenges.

Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Chief of the Naval Staff, will host Chiefs of Navies, Heads of Maritime Forces, and senior representatives from 14 nations - Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Tanzania.

Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd), former Chief of the Naval Staff, will deliver the keynote address.

The theme of this year’s edition is ‘Common Maritime Security Challenges in the IOR — Progressing Line of Efforts (LsoE) to Mitigate Dynamic Threats such as IUU Fishing and other Illegal Maritime Activities.’

It reflects the vital need to synergise, collaborate, and coordinate efforts among maritime nations with critical stakes in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Goa Maritime Symposium (GMS) and Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) were instituted in 2016 and 2017, respectively to foster collaborative thinking and mutual understanding between India and key maritime nations of the IOR, in consonance with the vision of MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).

“Through the GMC, engagement is undertaken with maritime neighbours to identify critical areas of cooperation and chart common pathways for holistic capacity building. The GMC is conducted biennially and is preceded by GMS, which serves as a feeder event with working-level meetings among participating nations,” Indian Navy officials said.

The maritime domain in the IOR faces a wide spectrum of traditional and non-traditional challenges, with significant implications for regional security and livelihoods.

Threats such as maritime terrorism, contraband smuggling, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, piracy, armed robbery, and irregular migration continue to undermine the goal of safe and secure seas. Emerging challenges, including climate change, cyber threats, and dark shipping, further exacerbate these risks.

The transnational and multidimensional nature of these threats necessitates enhanced cooperation and effective collaborative mechanisms among partner countries.

"The Goa Maritime Conclave continues to be an important forum for shaping and implementing collaborative solutions to maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region,” officials added.