Chiefs of Navies and Heads of Maritime Forces from 12 Indian Ocean littorals will attend the conclave

The 3rd edition of the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) – 2021, which will be held over three days from Sunday, will discuss maritime security and emerging non-traditional threats in the Indian Ocean region.

To be organised under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa, the GMC is Indian Navy’s Outreach Initiative providing a multinational platform to harness the collective wisdom of practitioners of maritime security and the academia towards garnering outcome oriented maritime thought.

GMC-21 would build upon the working level deliberations of the Goa Maritime Symposium-21 held earlier in May this year, as the Sherpa event for the Conclave, said the Ministry of Defence on Friday.

The theme for this year’s edition of GMC is “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies”.

The theme has been derived keeping in mind that necessity of ‘winning everyday peace’ in the maritime domain, the defence ministry pointed out.

Chief of the Naval Staff of Indian Navy Admiral Karambir Singh would be hosting Chiefs of Navies/ Heads of Maritime Forces from 12 Indian Ocean littorals, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary would be delivering the Conclave Address and Keynote Address of the GMC-21.

"With IOR becoming the focus of the 21st century strategic landscape, the GMC aims to bring together regional stakeholders and deliberate on the collaborative implementation strategies in dealing with contemporary maritime security challenges," said the defence ministry.

Eminent speakers and subject matter experts will address three sessions focusing on:

* Leveraging Collective Maritime Competencies to Counter Emerging Non-Traditional Threats

* Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Maritime Law Enforcement

*.Imperatives for Mitigating Emerging Non Traditional Threats in areas beyond National Jurisdiction in the IOR

There would also be extensive deliberations in the domains of Hydrography and Maritime Information Sharing.

The participating Chiefs of Navies and Heads of Maritime Agencies will also dwell upon the significance of interoperability to effectively deal with emerging and future maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.

As part of the Conclave, visitors would also be afforded an opportunity to witness India’s indigenous shipbuilding industry at the ‘Make in India Exhibition’ and the capabilities of Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) for Submarines at the Marmugao Port Trust, Goa.