Representative countries of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) have attended a conference in Bangladesh. Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Rear Admiral M Makbul Hossain inaugurated the event at Shagorika Hall in Naval Headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.
A workshop on 'Maritime Search and Rescue' was also organized to set the tone of the upcoming exercise. The two-day conference is being held as the initial planning of IONS Multilateral Maritime Search & Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) 2017- a sea-based exercise going to be held in November under the arrangement of Bangladesh Navy.
The 14 IONS nations including Bangladesh, Australia, France, China, India, Oman, UAE and Russia are participating in the event. IONS is a multinational maritime security initiative undertaken in 2008. It aimed at promoting measures and mechanisms of constructive engagement addressing the issues of regional security and cooperation in the maritime domain. Currently, Chief of Naval Staff of Bangladesh Navy Admiral Nizamuddin Ahmed is its Chairman.
-AA News Desk