A GROUP of 23 journalists from the Indo-Pacific region were accorded the rare opportunity of visiting the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, New Delhi, India, on Monday.
This visit is part of a greater familiarization visit to India for journos from the Indo-Pacific region hosted by India’s Ministry of External Affairs from August 18 to 27.
The participating journalists hailed from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Mauritius, Seychelles, Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Lao PDR.
structure, operations and international collaborations with various countries and multilateral partners.
One officer stated that the IFC-IOR was established by the Indian government in response to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, which resulted in 175 deaths and 300 injuries.
The officer emphasized that close collaboration with international partners allows the Centre to develop a unified maritime strategy to address non-traditional security threats, including piracy, armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, arms smuggling, poaching, and maritime terrorism with a particular focus on the Western Indian Ocean.
The enter was conceived to enhance regional cooperation, information sharing and development expertise in recognition of the Indian Ocean region’s critical role in global trade and security.
During the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders’ summit in Tokyo on May 24, the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) was introduced.
As part of the IPMDA, the IFC-IOR has extended information-sharing support to existing regional fusion centers, including the Information Fusion Center in Singapore, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in Solomon Islands, and the Pacific Fusion Center in Vanuatu, all of which receive support from Australia.
The Indian Navy informed the journalists that the maritime domain is vast and lacks a single perfect solution and therefore active engagement with other agencies for information sharing and exchanges is crucial.
Currently, the IFC-IOR has 14 liaison officers stationed in 14 countries and maintains 75 international linkages, comprising 25 nations and 50 multilateral agencies.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
In New Delhi, India