Report Release | Australia-India Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative: Regional Collaborative Arrangements in Marine Ecology in the Indo-Pacific

Over the past year Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata (team led by Dr Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury) in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (team led by Dr Julius Cesar Trajano), has been working under the leadership of Dr. David Brewster (Senior Research Fellow, Australian National University) and Dr. Anthony Bergin (Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute), on a project on the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). Australia is taking the lead in the field of marine ecology in the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, while other Indo-Pacific partners are leading in areas such as security, infrastructure and resources.

After many months of extensive research, this project, funded by the Government of Australia, has culminated into a report which considers how Australia, India and other Indo-Pacific partners can work together as part of the India-led Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Accordingly, the report thus collects together a series of detailed baseline studies on Regional Collaborative Arrangements in Marine Ecology in:

• The Pacific (marine plastics, IUU fishing and ocean science);
• Southeast Asia (marine plastics, emergency response and coastal conservation); and
• The Bay of Bengal region (marine litter, IUU fishing and marine disaster management).

These studies will help consider how cooperation in marine ecology can be enhanced across the Indo-Pacific.

The report is scheduled to be released on the evening of 28th July through a Report Launch programme organised in Hybrid mode, by ORF Kolkata in collaboration with the Government of Australia. This will be followed by a Panel Discussion on the themes covered in the IPOI report.

The summary and recommendations of the report are available here.

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Programme:

04:30 PM - 04:35 PM | Welcome Address | Nilanjan Ghosh (Chair) 04:35 PM - 04:40 PM | Inaugural Address | H.E. Barry O’Farrell 04:40 PM - 04:45 PM | Launch of the IPOI Report | H.E. Rowan Ainsworth 04:45 PM - 04:55 PM | Special Address | Chhimmy Pem 04:55 PM - 05:05 PM | Special Address | Tariq Karim 05:05 PM - 05:25 PM | Introduction of the IPOI Project | David Brewster 05:25 PM - 05:30 PM | Vote of Thanks | Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury 05:30 PM - 05:45 PM | Break 05:45 PM - 07:15 PM | Panel Discussion on IPOI Report | Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Julius Cesar I. Trajano, Sanjay Chaturvedi, Nilanthi Samaranayake, Ahmadul Haque, Lina Gong, Margareth Sembiring, Anamitra Anurag Danda, Sohini Bose, Sayanangshu Modak and David Brewster (Moderator)