New Delhi, Oct 18 : The US' request to be inducted as a dialogue partner will be considered by the 19-member Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) in its November 2 meeting in Gurgaon.
Official sources said the US has requested that it should be considered for the Association's dialogue partner and the upcoming meeting, which will be attended by 10 Foreign Ministers and seven Deputy Foreign Ministers, will consider it.
Currently, the IOR-ARC has five dialogue partners---China, Japan, Egypt, France and the UK—and two Observers.
Initially known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative, IOR- ARC is an international organization with 19 member-states and was first established in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched on 6-7 March, 1997.
The members include Australia,
Singapore, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and UAE.
The sources said the meeting will find ways to work closely to strengthen the Association through concrete steps in the six priority areas of maritime security and piracy, fisheries management, disaster risk reduction, tourism and cultural exchanges, academic and S&T cooperation and trade and investment facilitatio —identified as six key areas.
The Association disseminates information on trade and investment regimes, with a view to helping the region's business community better understand the impediments to trade and investment within the region.
These information exchanges have been intended to serve as a base to expand intra-regional trade.
