The IONS presently has 23 member countries with 09 countries being given observer status. Bangladesh is the current ‘Chair’ of IONS. The construct has become an important Maritime construct to promote maritime cooperation amongst the member countries.
Accordingly, during the Conclave of Chiefs, held in Dhaka in January 16, 2017 among many important issues discussed, it was decided to conduct the IONS Multilateral Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) in Bangladesh in Nov 2017. Also, IONS Working Group (IWG) Meetings on HADR and Information Sharing & Interoperability were conducted from 29 to 30 Jun at Mumbai and 25 to 26 Jul 17 at Islamabad respectively. The IONS Preparatory Workshop (IPW) to finalise the agenda for discussions during the next ‘Conclave of Chiefs’ was held at Pretoria, South Africa from 03 to 06 Oct 17. The IMMSAREX was conducted at Cox Bazar, Bangladesh from 26 to 29 Nov 17. CNS attended the Extraordinary Conclave of Chiefs (ECoC) conducted by Bangladesh on the side-lines of IMMSAREX on 28 Nov’17.
