"As focus of global economic growth shifts to Asia, it will occupy even greater salience in our strategic perspective," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said in his address at the Ministerial Meeting of the 20-nation Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) here.
"We envision IOR-ARC as a regional body that can respond effectively to this need and enhance our individual and collective capacities to deal with contemporary challenges facing our common maritime domain," he said on the concluding day of the five-day conference.
Khurshid stressed that IOR-ARC should be strengthened to enable it to rise to expectations of the region.
The grouping was set up in 1997 with the primary objective of promoting sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of its member states.
"IOR-ARC has helped promote understanding and cooperation amongst our countries over these years, yet immense untapped potential remains," the minister said. The theme for today's deliberations is "IOR-ARC at 15