TOP: Ambassador Ignacio is greeted by ICWA Director General Ambassador Vijay Thakur Singh; Ambassador Ignacio exchanges views with panelist Capt. Sarabjeet Singh Parmar; BOTTOM: Full capacity audience at the IORA Forum.
New Delhi – Ambassador-designate Josel F. Ignacio attended the Forum hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on 07 March 2023 to commemorate the 27th year of the establishment of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). 
Themed “Securing the Indian Ocean Region Towards a Cooperative, Prosperous, Sustainable and Peaceful Region,” the event saw the participation of eminent resource persons.
Joint Secretary for Indo-Pacific Ms. Paramita Tripathi of the Ministry of External Affairs was joined by South Asian University Dean Prof. Sanjay Chaturvedi, United Service Institution of India (USII) fellow Capt. Sarabjeet Singh Parmar, and Vice Admiral (Retd.) Anil Chopra of the Delhi Policy Group (DPG).
In attendance were members of the diplomatic corps, academe, university students, and distinguished fellows from leading think tanks in India. Third Secretary (Political) Mark Anthony P. Dizon and Attaché Rogelio Silva accompanied the Ambassador.
The panel discussion highlighted the importance of IORA in the maintenance of peace and stability in the Indian Ocean and India's role in advancing the organization’s key priorities, particularly in maritime security and trade, disaster risk management, and climate change.
Critically for the Philippines, the event also provided rich insights into Indian Ocean developments that impinge on larger dynamics across the Indo-Pacific. It also shined a light on the complementarities of ASEAN and IORA priorities, including the convergence of the key pillars of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).
The panel discussion spotlighted the importance of the international rules-based order, particularly the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the maintenance of free, open, and inclusive space. The peaceful settlement of maritime border disputes in the Indian Ocean using UNCLOS mechanisms – echoed by the Philippines’ recourse to arbitration and the Arbitral Award it obtained in 2016 for the South China Sea -- was held up as an example.
IORA is a regional grouping established in 1997 that brings together 23 member countries. India is one of the founding members of the bloc, while four ASEAN countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, are also members.
The ICWA is an autonomous international affairs think tank and research institution funded by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Founded in 1943, it promotes an Indian perspective on international relations. END
