India Seeks Closer Economic Ties with Oceanic Nations

Emphasis on maritime security

Advocating deeper economic ties in the Indian Ocean region and emphasis on maritime security, India on Friday pitched for more robust "cooperative regionalism" and said the geo-strategic importance of the area cannot be underestimated.

"As focus of global economic growth shifts to Asia, it will occupy even greater salience in our strategic perspective," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said in his address at the Ministerial Meeting of the 20-nation Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) in Gurgaon.

"We envision IOR-ARC as a regional body that can respond effectively to this need and enhance our individual and collective capacities to deal with contemporary challenges facing our common maritime domain," he said on the concluding day of the five-day conference.