With India at its helm, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium must move beyond consensus-bound regionalism to realise its full operational potential in a contested maritime landscape
In the shifting geopolitics of the twenty-first century, naval diplomacy has rapidly emerged as a crucial dimension in the pursuit of foreign policy. Envisaged as efforts to enhance interoperability and operational synergies, maritime exercises between navies have gained prominence as an additional domain of diplomacy. Naval diplomacy has been particularly vital in shaping India’s maritime outlook, given its role in fostering cooperation through regional forums in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), which India assumed chairship of in February 2026, has emerged as one such key platform for maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Nearly two decades since its inception, what explains the seeming dormancy in IONS’ operational heft?
Since its inception in 2008, IONS has grown into one of the Indian Ocean’s few dedicated regional groupings, bringing together 23 member states and 11 Dialogue Partners. These countries are categorised into four sub-regions: South Asia, West Asia, East Africa, and the Southeast Asian-Australian cluster. The group’s objective has remained anchored in the imperative to promote cooperation among the region’s naval forces to ensure peace and stability. India’s tenure as chair of IONS, sixteen years after its previous term, marks a critical moment in articulating New Delhi’s role as a leader in fostering maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
India’s tenure as chair of IONS, sixteen years after its previous term, marks a critical moment in articulating New Delhi’s role as a leader in fostering maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean.
India hosted the ninth edition of the Conclave of Chiefs of IONS on the sidelines of the International Fleet Review and Exercise Milan, both of which saw extensive participation from navies across the world. The International Fleet Review (IFR) 2026, held off the coast of Visakhapatnam, showcased an impressive fleet of warships, aiming to strengthen global naval cooperation while highlighting India’s maritime capabilities.
The institutional framework of IONS is designed to ensure the group’s operational progress through three key pillars. At the apex is the Conclave of Chiefs (CoC), where senior naval leaders gather every two years to lay out a general strategy. This is followed by the IONS Seminar, which facilitates professional dialogue among mid-level officers. Complementing these are three specialised Working Groups — covering HADR, Maritime Security, and Information Sharing — that undertake the day-to-day coordination. These Working Groups function as the engine rooms of the forum, seeking to build operational synergy in technical domains.
However, IONS’ framework of inclusive governance also presents one of its greatest challenges. The symposium operates on a consensus-building mechanism, requiring unanimous endorsement from all participants. In a body comprising a large number of countries with diverse and often divergent strategic objectives and compulsions, this can act as a speed bump on the road to progress. As a voluntary and non-binding process, IONS does not have the teeth to compel compliance with maritime law or move decisively beyond the dialogue stage. While it remains a strong proponent of soft diplomacy, the group is vulnerable to being hamstrung when addressing issues that fall within the realm of traditional maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean.
The symposium operates on a consensus-building mechanism, requiring unanimous endorsement from all participants. In a body comprising a large number of countries with diverse and often divergent strategic objectives and compulsions, this can act as a speed bump on the road to progress.
The high degree of economic and infrastructural interdependence that many member states share with China also creates a strategic dilemma when attempting to craft credible strategies to address Beijing’s expanding regional footprint. For several IONS members, the imperative to preserve these productive relationships acts as a silent veto on any agenda perceived as confrontational or exclusionary, as they remain hesitant to support policies that could jeopardise critical investments or trade. This economic reality often dilutes regional security initiatives, making a unified response to external naval expansion increasingly difficult to achieve.
The presence of Pakistan within the group is also likely to create a distinct set of operational hurdles for its future agenda. For India, the current chair, managing a forum that requires consensus from a neighbour with which it shares a widening strategic gap is a delicate balancing act. This is likely to constrain the operational potential of IONS. Initiatives requiring a high degree of cooperation in maritime domain awareness or intelligence sharing are often diluted or kept at a general level to avoid friction. The most sensitive areas of security cooperation are frequently relegated to smaller, more cohesive platforms such as the Colombo Security Conclave, leaving IONS to focus on less contentious issues such as marine pollution or health cooperation.
Ultimately, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium remains a vital platform for maritime diplomacy, successfully fostering dialogue and humanitarian coordination across a diverse membership. However, its reliance on a consensus-based operational framework among a large number of actors with diverse and often divergent objectives limits its operational teeth. For IONS to evolve beyond a forum for optics, it must balance its inclusive character with more decisive action on pressing regional security challenges.
The presence of Pakistan within the group is also likely to create a distinct set of operational hurdles for its future agenda. For India, the current chair, managing a forum that requires consensus from a neighbour with which it shares a widening strategic gap is a delicate balancing act.
As such, IONS reveals the complex challenge of harnessing pathways of cooperation across a regional expanse such as the Indian Ocean, which remains only minimally cohesive. Given the limited sense of regional consciousness among Indian Ocean littoral states, there is a critical gap in articulating what constitutes common challenges for the region. This complexity has significantly constrained the potential of forums such as IONS. At a time when security dynamics in the Indian Ocean are rapidly shifting, and the region increasingly finds itself enmeshed in wars and conflicts, it is imperative for frameworks like IONS to strengthen efforts to enhance operational synergy, thereby contributing more meaningfully to maritime governance through naval diplomacy.
Sayantan Haldar is an Associate Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation.
Saanch Maheshwari is a Research Intern with the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Sayantan Haldar is an Associate Fellow with ORF’s Strategic Studies Programme. At ORF, Sayantan’s work is focused on Maritime Studies. He is interested in questions on ...
Read More +
Saanch Maheshwari is a Research Intern with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation. ...
Read More +
PREV
