India has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment, as Observer, following a meeting of the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA) held virtually on 26 August 2020. The other observer members are Japan, Norway, the UK and the US.
Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment is a grouping on maritime matters comprising the Governments of Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. These 21 member states are located adjoining the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the East coast of Africa and Island countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Backed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment provides a framework to tackle sea piracy and armed robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Code was signed on 29 January 2009.
Jeddah amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC+) is a high-level meeting of the signatories to the DCoC held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in January 2017 adopted a revised code of conduct, known as the DCoC+.
India already has cooperation with many of the DCoC conuntries under theumbrella of Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), which was established in March, 1997. The organisation is now known as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). India has also organised the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) with active participation of many of the DCoC countries.
A huge amount of Indian maritime trade passes through the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy was one of the first navies to begin anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden as early as in October 2008. Indian naval vessels also regularly patrol the Mozambique Channel.
As an observer India is expected to benefit by information exchange.
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