The Chinese conference appears to be intended to counteract India's significant influence in the Indian Ocean region, where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which has 23 member countries, have taken strong roots.
“Shared Development: Theory and Practice from the Perspective of the Blue Economy”.
Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia and representatives of 3 international organisations were present.
The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21, in which 19 countries took part.
CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former Vice Foreign Minister and Ambassador to India.
China is ready to provide the necessary material, financial, and technical support to countries in need. China proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region at the meeting on November 21.
IORA became an observer to the UN General Assembly and the African Union in 2015. China is a dialogue partner in the IORA formed in 1997.