Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI): India's seven-pillar plan for the Indo-Pacific
Why in news: On 23 October 2026 the Navy said IPRD-2026 (New Delhi, 3-5 November) will discuss science, technology and academic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) is an open global initiative India launched at the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok on 4 November 2019. It groups maritime cooperation under seven pillars, with partner countries leading individual pillars. The Navy's Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue, 3-5 November 2026, will take up science, technology and academic cooperation, one of those pillars.
Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS2 · India & its Neighbourhood; GS2 · Groupings & Agreements
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 international relations: Prelims can ask the IPOI's seven pillars, which partner leads which pillar and the East Asia Summit where it began; Mains, how SAGAR, MAHASAGAR and the IPOI shape India's maritime diplomacy.
In short
The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), launched by India at the 2019 East Asia Summit, is an open global initiative turning shared maritime principles into cooperation under seven pillars.
The IPOI will be judged by delivery: India must turn each pillar into joint projects while keeping the initiative open and ASEAN-centred.
Why it matters
A fishing family on India's coast, a ship's crew in the Bay of Bengal and a town exposed to cyclones all depend on seas that no single country can police or study alone. Plastic litter, illegal fishing, a warming climate and disasters cross borders, while the scientists, data and institutions needed to handle them are spread unevenly. The IPOI lets India bring partners into specific jobs, such as sharing ocean data, training researchers or planning disaster response, through an open arrangement any interested country can join. It also lets India shape the region's agenda as a provider of cooperation, and not only as a naval power.
Prelims pointers
- East Asia Summit: established in 2005; the MEA calls this Leaders-led format the most vital part of the ASEAN-led frameworks.
- SAGAR: Security and Growth for All in the Region; set out by the Prime Minister in Mauritius on 12 March 2015.
- MAHASAGAR: Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions; announced in Mauritius on 12 March 2025 as India's vision for the Global South.
- MEA Indo-Pacific Division (April 2019): per the MEA's 2020 brief, it also handles ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, IORA, ASEM, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation and ACMECS.
- Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA): founded 1997, secretariat in Mauritius; India is lead country for Disaster Risk Management and for Academic, Science and Technology Cooperation (MEA, 2020).
- Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue: first two editions held in New Delhi in 2018 and 2019; the 2020 edition was cancelled because of Covid-19.
- UNCLOS: opened for signature at Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1982; coastal states hold sovereign rights in a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), consider the following statements:
1. India first announced the IPOI at the Shangri La Dialogue held in Singapore.
2. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management is one of the seven pillars of the IPOI.
3. The IPOI draws on existing regional cooperation architecture and mechanisms.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The IPOI was announced at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok, not at the Shangri La Dialogue.
Statement 1: incorrect. The Shangri La Dialogue speech of June 2018 set out India's Indo-Pacific vision; the IPOI came at the 14th East Asia Summit, Bangkok, November 2019.
Statement 2: correct. The MEA lists Disaster Risk Reduction and Management among the IPOI's seven pillars.
Statement 3: correct. The MEA describes the IPOI as an open global initiative drawing on existing regional cooperation architecture and mechanisms.
Eliminate: Statement 1 puts the launch at the wrong forum, so it is wrong. Out: (a), (c), (d).
Trap: Swapped attribution. The 2018 Shangri La vision and the 2019 IPOI are linked, so the forum of one is pinned on the other.
Remember: Vision at Shangri La, 2018; IPOI at the East Asia Summit, Bangkok, 2019.
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