GOA MARITIME SYMPOSIUM (GMS) – 2021 | UPSC
HEADLINES:
GOA MARITIME SYMPOSIUM (GMS) – 2021
WHY IN NEWS:
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SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Defence
ISSUE:
GOA MARITIME SYMPOSIUM (GMS) – 2021
AIM
- Towards fostering friendly relations with its maritime neighbours, Indian Navy hosted ‘GMS-21’ under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa on 11 and 12 May 21.
- Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event for the first time was hosted in virtual mode, with online participation of Naval representatives from 13 Indian Ocean Littoral countries.
PARTICIPANTS
India, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
THEME 2021
The theme for GMS-21 was focused on “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies,” .
- The emphasis is on capacity building amongst the IOR Navies to tackle emerging common maritime threats.
SIGNIFICANCE
- With the Indian Ocean becoming the locus of 21st century strategic landscape, the symposium will play a constructive role in bringing together the stakeholders who have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms on the issues of common interest in maritime domain.
- In addition to presenting cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability among partner maritime agencies, the event provided a forum for articulation of views on the crucial maritime issues, followed by theme based discussions.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It provides a forum to increase maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states.
The symposium contributed majorly towards fostering a sense of maritime awareness that presupposes efficiency in cooperative mechanisms.
- It also brought out competing narratives and suggested roadmaps for the future including strengthening existing frameworks such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) – an Indian Navy initiative since 2008.