Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
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The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a series of biennial meetings between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. It provides a forum to increase maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states.[1][2][3][4]
Role
IONS is a security construct for the Indian Ocean region which is similar to the Western Pacific Naval Symposium. It is a voluntary initiative among the navies and maritime security agencies of the member nations. In addition to the symposiums, numerous other activities like workshops, essay competitions and lectures are also held under the umbrella of the organization.[1]
Members and observers
Dark blue = member States
Light blue = observers
The 25 member nations of the IONS are grouped into four sub-regions.[1][10][11]
Members
| Sub region | Member | Accession |
|---|---|---|
| South Asian |  Bangladesh |
|
 India |
February 2008 | |
 Maldives |
||
 Pakistan |
March 2014[12] | |
 Seychelles |
||
 Sri Lanka |
||
| West Asian |  Iran |
|
 Oman |
||
 Saudi Arabia |
||
 Qatar |
||
 UAE |
||
| East African |  France[a] |
|
 Kenya |
||
 Mauritius |
||
 Mozambique |
||
 South Africa |
||
 Tanzania |
||
 Eritrea |
||
| South East Asian and Australian |  Australia |
|
 Indonesia |
||
 Malaysia |
||
 Myanmar |
||
 Singapore |
||
 Thailand |
||
 Timor Leste |
Observers
There are nine states with observer status[10]
