New Delhi, Feb 15 (UNI) Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari today called upon the Indian Ocean Region nations to work towards a collective response to security issues in the region which carries the major portion of global maritime traffic.

Addressing the Conclave of Chiefs gathered here for the first Seminar held under the aegis of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), the Vice President impressed upon them the need to jointly address common concerns to strengthen regional security.

The seminar -- attended by heads of navies of 27 nations of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) -- founded a cooperative and inclusive forum of IOR countries and would also provide a platform for the conduct of training exchanges, seminars, table-top exercises, workshops and the like.

Even as the seminar discused 'Contemporary Trans-national Challenges International Maritime Connectivities', the Chiefs of Navies / heads of respective maritime organisations met in a Conclave of Chiefs to deliberate upon the charter of the IONS. The Conclave of Chiefs will continue its discussions during the second session scheduled at Goa tomorrow and the day after. The Chiefs will also visit the naval base, INS Hansa.

The first Conclave of Chiefs has thrown up numerous positive proposals for future. All those attending fully supported the concept of IONS and agreed to a 'broad consensus' that will be the guiding arrangement until the formal Charter was finally signed.

Consensus was reached on the Symposium of IONS (including the Conclave of Chiefs) to meet every two years; the Chairmanship (and Secretariat) to rotate with the next venue being on the agenda at the Goa session; Cooperative endeavours such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to be the immediate core area of thrust with a seminar for young officers also agreed to; and Categories of membership accepted in principle and it further agreed that observers would be accepted only by common consensus.

UNI DG MSJ KN2119