New Delhi, Nov 22 :Experts from both government and academia from the participating East Asia Summit countries will deliberate upon various aspects of maritime security cooperation during the Fifth EAS Conference on Maritime Security Cooperation being held in Kolkata on November 23-24.
The event is being organised by India in partnership with Australia.
Apart from the two governments, organisers include the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in collaboration with National Maritime Foundation (NMF) of Australia and the Research Centre for East and North East Regional Studies, Kolkata (CENERS-K), an official statement said.
The Government of India will be represented by Riva Ganguly Das, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
During the conference, experts from both government and academia from the EAS participating countries will deliberate upon various aspects of maritime security cooperation under four thematic sessions, namely Maritime Security; Resource and Information Sharing; Science and Technology Cooperation; and Pandemic and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
The event will conclude with a panel discussion on the Way Forward.
The EAS has 18 members – the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
ASEAN leads the forum, and the chair position rotates between ASEAN Member States annually. In 2020 EAS members represented 54 per cent of the world’s population and accounted for 62 per cent of global GDP worth an estimated US$52.3 trillion.(UNI)