INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM
PREPARATORY WORKSHOP
Kochi 2022
1.0 Opening Address
Cmde Anil Jaggi, Cmde (FC) welcomed all the delegations to the IONS Preparatory Workshop in Kochi.
2.0 Review of CoC Decisions / Summary
Capt Yann Briand of French Navy steered the review of CoC decisions held at Paris in 2021. Outcomes are tabulated below:
| Item | Resolution | Status | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangladesh and India were endorsed as the HADR IWG co-chairs for the next Chairmanship period. | Complete | — |
| 2 | Pakistan was endorsed as a new member of the HADR IWG. | Complete | — |
| 3 | The HADR IWG Report and the HADR IWG Resolutions n° 1 to 5 and 7 to 8 (change of date required on Resolutions 4 and 8 from "31 Mar 2020" to "31 Dec 2021", as well as on Resolutions 3 and 7 from "2021" to "2022"). Resolution 6 about an IONS Coordination Centre HADR (ICCH) was not endorsed (enclosure 1). | Complete | — |
| 4 | Iran and India were endorsed as the MarSec IWG co-chairs for the next Chairmanship period. | Complete | — |
| 5 | With regard to the ITP, the MarSec IWG commitment to the development of this document was applauded. However the Resolution to fast track the interim approval of the ITP was not endorsed. However agreement was reached to validate the draft publication at sea at the next IONS MarSec Exercise announced by IRIN during the 7th CoC. | Ongoing | Field trials pending, maybe conducted in 2023 |
| 6 | The MarSec IWG Report and all the other MarSec IWG Resolutions were endorsed (enclosure 2). | Complete | — |
| 7 | Australia and Iran were endorsed as the IS&I IWG co-chairs for the next Chairmanship period. | Complete | — |
| 8 | The IS&I IWG Report and all the IS&I IWG Resolutions were endorsed (enclosure 3). | Complete | — |
| 9 | The Conclave invited India, within the framework of the IS&I IWG to review the IONS Website with a view to increased functionality options, including the capacity to host a chat facility, to make any necessary trials and report back to CoC 2023 with a suggested way ahead. | Ongoing | Different time zones, more man power, cyber security concerns. Resolution for next CoC — email is fine, website can be upgraded. |
| 10 | The Conclave tasked the IONS Secretariat to oversee a global review of IONSPHERE and provide recommendations through IPW 2022 for Conclave 2023 consideration. | Ongoing | - Short articles on common interest; - more contribution from members |
| 11 | The Conclave tasked the IONS Secretariat to oversee a comprehensive review of the Charter of Business. The review is to take in all aspects of the Charter's remit and is to include the routine invitation to all non-member littoral navies, consideration of the issues of Virtual attendance at IONS events, of remote voting and size of quorum required. | Ongoing | To be discussed |
| 12 | The Conclave tasked the IONS Secretariat to conduct a routine review of the IONS Secretariat Guidelines and to work through the three IWGs to review the IWG Terms of Reference and the IWG Concept Document with a view to drafting an update of all the documentation for presentation at IPW 2022 and subsequent endorsement at Conclave 2023. | Ongoing | To be discussed |
| 13 | The Chairman invited the co-chairs of all three IWGs to review how best to include an overlay of environmental security on their respective IWG work in progress and future remit (including ongoing revisions to the IWG Concept and Terms of Reference) and report back to Conclave 2023 through the IPW 2022 with associated recommendations. | Ongoing | — |
| 14 | The Chair undertook to write to his counterpart at WPNS to seek formal endorsement of a proposal whereby a joint member from (of IONS and WPNS) could be selected by the Chair to provide a standing agenda item update report at the IPW and Conclave. This arrangement could of course be two-way if desired by the similar organisations. | Complete | — |
| 15 | Members and observers are invited to send to the IONS Secretariat proposals related to the IONS flag with a view to the 2022 IPW. | Ongoing | Text to be avoided, should be reversible, to be deliberated. Proposals still welcomed till 2 months before CoC 23 (see resolution 8). |
| 16 | Thailand confirmed its intention to assume the Chairmanship of IONS from 2023-2025. | Complete | — |
| 17 | India was endorsed as the designate IONS Chair from 2025 - 2027. | Complete | — |
| 18 | India will host the 2022 IPW and Pakistan will host the IPW 2024. | Complete | — |
3.0 Documentation Review
The following documents were reviewed during the workshop:
- Charter of Business
- IWG TORs review
The recommended amendments in above mentioned documents are placed at Enclosure 1 and Enclosure 2 respectively.
4.0 Presentations by Co-chairs of IWGs
4.1 HADR Workshop by Bangladesh Navy
Covered under the following sub heads:
- Cooperative approaches for effective HADR Ops in the IOR – THEME
- Strengthening effective HADR Ops : Prospects Through Partnership
- HADR Ops by Australian Defence Forces : Past, Present & Future (Australia)
- Role of IONS Navies in HADR and possible strategies for risk mitigation in light of Indian Navy’s Experience (India)
- The challenges of high availability disaster recovery support and the role of dept of disaster management (Bangladesh) in future
- Interoperability among various national stakeholders for integrated HADR ops in light of recent experience (Maldives)
- Geographic Information system and data bank : viable tools for effective HADR ops (Thailand)
- French Navy & HADR: Main principles, recent ops, examples of cooperation (France)
- Knowledge sharing on Hazards in Bangladesh
- Recommendations from IONS HADR workshop
4.2 Workshop on MarSec (Iran)
the following points were covered during the same:
- Theme – Emerging MARSEC Challenges, cognition, Knowledge sharing and diminishing their effects
- Cybercrime in maritime domain and their impacts on maritime security
- Impact of “Law of the Sea” on collective maritime security
- Scope of automation in maritime security operations, at unit level and collective actions
- Impact of environmental challenges/ Climate change on Maritime security
4.3 Workshop on Information Sharing and Interoperability
Workshop on Information Sharing and Interoperability was scheduled to be conducted in Darwin in October 2022 has been postponed to a mutually acceptable date agreeable by the co-chairs.
5.0 Presentation by Thailand for 8th IONS CoC
Thailand being the next chair of IONS presented a detailed plan for 8th IONS CoC to be conducted at Bangkok. Tentative dates are 19-22 Dec 23. Salient features of the presentation are as follows:
- Invitation Detail
- Tentative Program
- Theme and Tentative Seminar concept
- Logistic Support
6.0 SME Presentations
A total of four topics were covered as presentations by SMEs. Brief of the same are as follows:
| Topic | Presented By | Points Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Non Combatant Evacuation | Cdr Rowena Gaffney, Australia | - Yemen evacuations 2015 - Australian Bushfires 2020-21 - IPW review NEO guide, To be inserted as an appendix to HADR Resource Directory |
| IMEX 22 | Cdr Violaine Bujeau, France | - Lessons learnt — IMEX IONS exercise - Harbour phase and Sea phase - dedicated HADR symbology missing, mapping turned off for smooth txn (lessons learnt) - achievements and way forward |
| Environment Protection for Ships | Cdr Rowena Gaffney, Australia | - Marine protected areas and Marine parks a commonplace - Treaties and Legislation (MARPOL, Ramsar convention) - Navy Environment Management System - Maritime Activities Environment Management Plan |
| Cyber Security Handy Hints | Cdr Rowena Gaffney, Australia | Navy Cyber; use of Social Networks by Navy Personnel — security breaches and cultural issues such as racism, sexism and bullying - targeted attacks on Govt agency networks, individuals' work and personal email accounts and mobile phones - theft of data, disruption, identity theft and seeking money - the cyber threat spectrum (threats and motivation) - RAN response (emails from chiefs, divisional meetings and posters) - action items for personnel - cyber awareness - strategies to mitigate cyber security incidents |
The above mentioned SME presentations are placed at enclosure 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
7.0 IONS Essay Writing Competition
Winners of IONS Essay writing competition were announced and the topic for next Essay writing competition was decided to be
"Preservation of the Fisheries Resources"
