Image above courtesy of the Indian High Commission Canberra
Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) project
The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 14th East Asia Summit on 4 November 2019 at Bangkok. Australia partners with India to develop the IPOI.
ANCORS and the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) at OP Jindal Global University in India worked together through 2022-2023 to develop IPOI cooperation options for Australia and India. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded ANCORS and JSIA to deliver this work under the Australia-India IPOI Partnership.
The project title is Integrated Maritime Management and Security across the Indo- Pacific: A Framework to Unify the Seven IPOI Pillars. The seven IPOI pillars are:
- Maritime Ecology
- Maritime Security
- Marine Resources
- Capacity Building and Resource Sharing
- Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
- Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation
- Trade, Connectivity and Maritime Transport
In its first stage, the project held an online conference in October 2022, exploring ways to enhance regional maritime cooperative activities appropriate to each IPOI pillar and across them. An executive summary of outcomes and recommendations, a conference program, report, and video are available online. Selected papers from the conference were written into chapters of an edited book.
The IPOI Pillars project produced a book, Integrated Maritime Management and Security across the Indo-Pacific: A Framework to Unify the Seven IPOI Pillars, edited by Gregory Rose, Shaun Starr, Pankaj Jha and Prakash Gopal. It sets out ideas for implementation of the seven IPOI Pillars, especially through advancing interlinkages between them. The book is available in hard copy from ANCORS and the Jindal School of International Affairs, please contact us to purchase a copy.
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In its second stage, a regional cooperation plan to reduce sources of marine plastic debris was developed and then refined through consultations with regional stakeholders. It forms a step towards enhanced regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean under the Maritime Ecology pillar.
A regional cooperation plan to reduce sources of marine plastic debris was developed and then refined through consultations with regional stakeholders. The final product, a Draft Implementation Plan for Reducing Sea-based Sources of Marine Plastic Debris in the Indian Ocean (PDF: 171 KB), focuses on sea-based sources of marine plastic debris.
The Draft Implementation Plan is recommended for the consideration of Indian Ocean countries and organisations, in particular, the Indian Ocean rim Association. It could form a step towards enhanced regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean under the IPOI Maritime Ecology pillar.
