Out of the 19 member countries, foreign ministers from as many as eight countries like Iran, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Madagascar, Oman, Seychelles, Tanzania and Yemen have confirmed their participation in the meeting of the CoM.

“Apart from having bilateral meetings with Dr Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran and Prof Gamini Peiris of Sri Lanka, our External Affairs Minister will also have bilateral meeting with other foreign ministers,” said the Spokesperson of Indian External Affairs Ministry, Syed Akbaruddin.

Prof.Samson Ongeri, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Kenya), Pierrot Jocelyn Rajaonarivelo, Minister Of Foreign Affairs (Madagascar), Yousuf Alawi, Minister Of Foreign Affair (Oman), Jean Paul Adam, Minister Of Foreign Affairs (Seychelles), Dr Abdallah Omari Kigoda, Minister Of Industry And Trade (Tanzania) and Dr Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs (Yemen) are also expected to participate in the CoM meeting.

At the level of Minister of State or Deputy Minister Richard Marles, Parliamentary Secretary, Department Of Foreign Affairs And Trade (Australia), Mohamed Mijarul Quayes, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh), Richard Riot Jaem, Deputy Minister Of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia), Anundpriyay Neewoor, Secretary For Foreign Affairs, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration And International Trade (Mauritius), Henrique Banze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Cooperation (Mozambique), Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore), Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, Deputy Minister, Department Of International Relations & Cooperation (South Africa), Navin Boonseat, Secretary To The Foreign Minister, Office Of The Minister (Thailand) and Dr Anwar Mohamed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (UAE) have confirmed their participation.

At the level of Director General Budi Bowoleksono, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Indonesia) will participate while the information on Comoros delegation is awaited.

IOR-ARC brings together countries of three Continents – Africa, Asia and Australia and constitute of about two billion people. Presently it has 19 members- Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen. There are five Dialogue Partners namely China, Egypt, France, Japan and UK and two Observers namely, Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG) and Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO), Oman.

The Indian Ocean Rim is rich in strategic and precious minerals, metals and other natural resources, marine resources and energy, all of which can be sourced from Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), continental shelves and the deep seabed.

The apex body of the IOR-ARC is the Council of (Foreign) Ministers (COM). The meeting of the COM is preceded by the meetings of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI), and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO).

Among other organs of IOR-ARC, are IOR-ARC Special Fund set up in August 2004 to assist, support and encourage facilitation and promotion of economic cooperation activities, intellectual exchanges, studies and surveys or any other academic research, entrepreneurial or intellectual exercise and in capacity-building at national and/or regional level to support implementation of projects, programmes, and activities in furtherance of the IOR-ARC objectives.

Routine meetings are held at the level of Heads of Missions of IOR-ARC countries, based in Pretoria. This Working Group of Heads of Mission (WGHM) takes stock of progress on issues and suggests ideas for the way forward. Thirteen meetings of this Working Group have taken place so far.

Fisheries Support Unit (FSU), established in Oman, is envisaged to play an important role in enhancing the cooperation within the fisheries sector of IOR-ARC, better utilization of the fisheries resources, expertise exchange and conducting joint research activities.

Regional Centre for Science and Transfer of Technology (RCSTT), established in 2008 in Tehran, has the status of a subsidiary body under IOR-ARC.

Maritime Transport Council (MTC) was adopted at the 10th meeting of COM in Sana'a Yemen in 2010. The proposed MTC is a regional specialized agency that promotes and defends the interests of member States to facilitate maritime transport. It strives towards strengthening of the maritime transport cooperation in the IOR-ARC region.

The 11th meeting of COM was held in Bengaluru on November 15, 2011 where India assumed Chair of IOR-ARC from Yemen and Australia assumed the Vice Chair. India worked with other members to build consensus on themes of contemporary relevance to all members and for IOR-ARC to focus on in the coming years. Six priority areas were identified to take forward the cooperation under IOR-ARC namely, maritime safety and security; trade and investment facilitation; fisheries management; disaster risk reduction; academic and S&T cooperation; and tourism promotion and cultural exchanges.

In 2011, the combined GDP of IOR-ARC member countries increased to an estimated $6.5 trillion from $5.7 trillion in 2010. The combined GDP of IOR-ARC countries is expected to cross $9 trillion by 2016.

During the period 2001-2011, the total trade of the region more than tripled, from $1.1 trillion in 2001 to $3.5 trillion in 2010. Exports increased from $564 billion in 2001 to $1.8 trillion in 2010. The imports by member countries have grown from $507.6 billion to $1.7 trillion.

The share of IOR-ARC region in global trade also increased from 8.6% in 2001 to 11.6% in 2010.

India’s total trade with the IOR-ARC region has grown more than eight fold from $19 billion to $156.3 billion during the period 2001-2010. India’s exports to the region amounted to $69 billion while imports amounted to $87.3 billion in 2010. India contributed 15.6% of total intra-regional trade in 2010.