The eighth Indian Ocean Dialogue was held on December 15, 2021.

The eighth Indian Ocean Dialogue was jointly hosted by External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Council of World Affairs. The theme for this year's edition was "Leveraging Digital Technologies for Health, Education, Development, and Trade in Indian Ocean Rim Association Member States."

India has hosted the 1st and the 6th Edition of the Indian Ocean Dialogue in Kerala and New Delhi in September 2014 and December 2019 respectively.

Delivering the keynote address, Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh underscored the need for greater collaboration among IORA Member States for post-pandemic recovery.

He also highlighted the critical role of new and emerging technologies and re-affirmed India’s readiness to collaborate on it.

About Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
Formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is an international organisation consisting of 23 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

IORA was first established in March 1995, as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative. It was formally launched in March 1997 with the conclusion of a multilateral treaty called “Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation”.

The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them.

Principles of IORA
IORA is based on the principles of Open Regionalism to strengthen Economic Cooperation, especially on Trade Facilitation & Investment, Promotion and Social Development of the region.

IORA Secretariat
Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is situated at Ebene in Mauritius.