INDIAN OCEAN COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS IN ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION; SUBSTANTIVE SESSION SCHEDULED FOR 8 JULY

Ad Hoc Committee on Indian Ocean

449^th Meeting (PM)

INDIAN OCEAN COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS IN ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION;

SUBSTANTIVE SESSION SCHEDULED FOR 8 JULY

Holding its organizational session this afternoon, the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean elected, by acclamation, Chithambaranathan Mahendran of Sri Lanka as its Chairman; and Paul Stephens (Australia), Yuri Thamrin (Indonesia) as its Vice-Chairpersons.  Modeste Randrianarivony (Madagascar) was elected as the Committee’s Rapporteur.

As no nomination had been received from the delegation of Mozambique, consultations would continue in that regard.  The Committee also adopted its provisional agenda for the organizational session, which is contained in document A/AC.159/L.132.

The Ad Hoc Committee was created following the declaration of the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace by the terms of General Assembly resolution 2832 (1971).  Also by that text, the Assembly called upon the great Powers to enter into immediate consultations with the littoral States of the Indian Ocean with a view to halting the further escalation and expansion of their military presence in the Indian Ocean.

Current members of the Ad Hoc Committee are:  Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Nepal, South Africa and Sweden are observers.

In his opening remarks, the Under-Secretary-General of General Assembly and Conference Management, Chen Jian, paid tribute to the outgoing Chairman of the Committee, John Saram of Sri Lanka.  A consummate diplomat, he had worked for the implementation of the idea of turning the Indian Ocean into a zone of peace, cooperation and prosperity, he said. 

In other business, responding to a question by a representative of Bangladesh, the Committee’s incoming Chairman informed the delegates that he had been invited to attend the XIII Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur at the end of February.  Since the 1970s, the Movement had attached particular importance to the issues within the purview of the Committee, and the consultative process would continue.  He would present a

full report on any Kuala Lumpur decisions relevant to the work of the Indian Ocean Committee at its upcoming substantive session, to be held on 8 July 2003.

Three permanent members of the Security Council -– United States, United Kingdom and France –- were so far not participating in the Committee.  The Assembly had, in 1997 and 1999, indicated that the participation of the Council’s permanent members was important for developing peace, security and stability in the region.  Thus, said Mr. Mahendran, an effort would be made to persuade them to take part in its work, taking into account the new framework of the developing situation in the Indian Ocean area.  That would be the main thrust of the Kuala Lumpur consultations.  The Chairman also intended to consult with Committee members on the future work in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Declaration.  Assuring the Committee that he would explore all avenues to fulfil the Committee’s mandate, he said that, notwithstanding the lengthy process, “some light” could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

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