NEW DELHI (PTI): The fourth edition of Goa Maritime Conclave is slated to be held from October 29 to 31 where Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will deliver the keynote address, officials have said.

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar would be hosting chiefs of navies, heads of maritime forces, and senior representatives from 12 Indian Ocean littorals, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, the defence ministry said in a statement here on Wednesday.

Singh has consented to be the chief guest, and he would deliver the keynote address at the biennial event, it said.

The fourth edition of GMC is being held from October 29 to 31 by the Indian Navy under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa.

"GMC is the Indian Navy's outreach initiative providing a multinational platform to harness the collective wisdom of practitioners of maritime security and the academia towards garnering outcome-oriented maritime thought," the statement said.

Previous editions of the event were held in 2017, 2019, and 2021 and it provides a forum for the exchange of views by chiefs of navies, and heads of maritime agencies on dealing with contemporary and future maritime challenges, as well as presenting cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability amongst partner maritime agencies, it said.

The theme for this year's edition of GMC is 'Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region: Converting Common Maritime Priorities into Collaborative Mitigating Frameworks', which has been derived keeping in mind the necessity of "synergising and collaborating efforts" in the maritime domain towards achieving maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the ministry said.

As part of the conclave, visiting dignitaries would also be afforded an opportunity to witness India's indigenous shipbuilding industry at a 'Make in India Exhibition' and witness the indigenous warships as also capabilities of the Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), the statement said.

In its fourth iteration, GMC continues to strive to find regional solutions to the regional security challenges in the IOR, and fulfill its quest of becoming an "outcome-oriented" forum by converting common maritime priorities into collaborative mitigating frameworks, it said.