The Indian Ocean have been at the centre of some of the oldest civilizations in the World. With sustained economic growth in the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean, this region has assumed greater salience in all realms including strategic, defence, political, economic and cultural etc.

In the twenty first century, there is a need to build new Regional Architectures in the Indian Ocean Region, and its neighbourhood in the Indo-Pacific, which would reflect present geopolitical landscape by institutional collaboration and cooperative mechanism. This would be necessary to safeguard land & maritime territories and interests; deepening economic and security cooperation in the littoral; promoting collective action to deal with natural disasters and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism and emergent non-state actors; working towards sustainable regional development through enhanced collaboration; and, engaging with countries with the aim of building greater trust and promoting respect for maritime rules, norms and peaceful resolution of disputes.

In the context of changing geopolitical contours in the Indian Ocean region, the Indian Ocean Conference 2018 would provide an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the economic and strategic importance of the region and neighborhood by focusing on Security, Trade & Commerce and Governance so as to build new regional architectures in the region for shared prosperity.