Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean region
The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) is a regional maritime security centre hosted by the Indian Navy. Launched in December 2018, the centre works towards enhancing maritime security and safety in the Indian Ocean. Currently, the IFC-IOR has International Liaison Officers (ILO) from 12 partner nations. It also has more than 65 international working-level linkages with nations and multi-national/ maritime security centres. Background The sea lanes in the Indian Ocean are considered among the most strategically important in the world with more than 80 percent of the world's seaborne trade in oil transits through the Indian Ocean and its vital chokepoints, with 40 percent passing through the Strait of Hormuz, 35 percent through the Strait of Malacca and 8 percent through the Bab el-Mandeb. 75 percent of the world's maritime trade also passes through the IOR. Challenges like maritime terrorism, piracy and armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, Illegal Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, gun running and poaching require situational awareness of the maritime activities. To facilitate information sharing, cooperation and expertise development, a need for regional collaboration was felt. IFC-IOR was envisaged to address this very need to promote collaboration for maritime safety and security in view of the Indian Ocean Region's importance with respect to world trade and security. Launch IFC-IOR was launched by the Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman on 22 December 2018 at Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) Gurugram, along with the then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba. Role IFC-IOR was envisaged to be a nodal centre of excellence for promoting collaborative Maritime Safety and Security; towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean Region. The mission of the centre is: The Centre fuses, analyses and disseminates information on White Shipping in the Indian Ocean. It also aims to collaborate with national and regional agencies and like-minded Centres to generate comprehensive Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Partner Nations Since its inception, the centre has established more than 65 international working-level linkages with nations and multinational/maritime security centres. At the time of inauguration, IFC-IOR was manned by Indian Navy with a virtual presence of International Liaison Officers from participating countries. India has already signed information exchange agreement with 22 countries and one multinational construct – the Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre which facilitates 30 other countries to create a virtual network for exchange of information under the international cooperation framework. In November 2019, the first ILO was posted to the centre. Since then, IFC-IOR has hosted ILOs from 12 partner nations – Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States of America. More ILOs are expected to join the endeavour in the near future. Apart from this, South Africa had deputed two observers to the centre. India, during its presidency of United Nations Security Council, had organised a High Level Open Debate on Maritime Security on 9 August 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech, mentioned about the role of IFC-IOR in developing