About Us

About US



Background: SIOS

☛ Just as former PM Indira Gandhi sent an expedition to Antarctica in 1981, and simultaneously set up the Department of Ocean Development, the eminent trio of Sh PN Haksar, Professor S Nurul Hassan and Professor Satish Chandra decided to establish a not-for-profit NGO that would serve as a research Centre/think tank to stimulate India’s profile in the maritime domain and particularly, to encourage research on the history, geography, living and non-living resources of the Indian Ocean.

☛ Accordingly, the Society for Indian Ocean Studies was established by the above-mentioned eminences in 1987 and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960.

☛ In its endeavor to promote awareness of ocean affairs, the Society has been conducting regular interactions through seminars, roundtable discussions and a journal, on subjects as varied as climate change, cultural contact, geopolitics, the Act East policy, ocean economy and even the South China Sea imbroglio. The following paras detail the Society’s curriculum since 2016.

Major Activities 2016-2021



  • ▶ An international Seminar on ‘Emerging Geopolitics in the Indian Ocean’, was conducted at Delhi, on 18-19 Mar 2016. Speakers from Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, apart from India, presented their perspectives.

  • ▶ A seminar titled ‘The South China Sea Imbroglio: Looking for a Solution—Legal and Political’, was conducted on 03 Oct 2016, at Delhi. This seminar was very well attended, given the theme and the variety of speakers, who deliberated various possibilities in the South China Sea—three months after the tribunal verdict against China.

  • ▶ Eminent Person’s Talk titled ‘Indonesia, the Fulcrum of South East Asia: In which Direction is it Moving?” was delivered by Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, leading scholar and Secretary to Vice President of Indonesia, on 15 Mar 2017, at Delhi. This was a topical theme and aroused great interest amongst the thinking classes and diplomats.

  • ▶ Book titled ‘Indo-Pacific Axis: Peace, Prosperity or Conflict’ released by SIOS, on 28 Jun 2018, at Delhi.

  • ▶ Seminar titled ‘South China Sea after two Years of PCA: Can it become the basis of CoC?’, held on 31 Jul 2018, at Delhi

  • ▶ Seminar titled ‘South China Sea on the Third Anniversary of UN Tribunal Judgement: Rising Tensions Amidst China’s Bellicosity’, held on 12 July 2019, at Delhi.

  • ▶ 26 October, 2020 Webinar on 'Strategic Outlook of Countries in the Bay of Bengal Region'
    Opening Remarks: Amb. Sudhir Devare
    Keynote address: Amb. Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary,
    Participants:
    • H.E Mr Kasit Piromya, former Foreign Minister of Thailand
    • Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Member, Social Science Council, AIPL Indonesia
    • Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka, Bangladesh
    • Dr Dushni Veerakoon, Exe. Director, Institute for Policy Studies, Sri Lanka
    • Dr Min Zaw Oo, Myanmar Institute of Peace and Security, Yangon
    • Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Fellow, Chulangkorn Uni. Bangkok
    • Dr Vinaysheel Gautam, Member Govt. Council Training for Major Ports
    • Vice Admiral Anup Singh, Director Strategic Studies, SIOS (Moderator)

  • ▶ 3 September,2021: Webinar on Marine Spatial Planning and Regional Cooperation
    Keynote address: Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Karambir Singh
    Introduction: Commodore Sujeet Samaddar
    Speakers:
    • Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar, Chief Hydrographer of India
    • Shri Dammu Ravi Secretary (Eco.Relations) MEA
    • Prof S.K.Mohanty, RIS
    • Dr Vinaysheel Gautam
    Concluding Remarks:
    • Amb Sudhir Devare

  • ▶ 27 September, 2021: Discussion on Quad Summit (in virtual mode)
    Participants:
    • Vice Admiral Anup Singh
    • Prof Swaran Singh
    • Amb Biren Nanda
    • Dr Krishnendra Meena
    • Amb. Sudhir Devare


Journal of Indian Ocean Studies


The Society brings out every four months a professional journal titled' Journal of Indian Ocean Studies' which is now published by Prints Publications Pvt Ltd, New Delhi and is subscribed by the Indian Coast Guard, Universities, Libraries and other institutions in India and abroad. During the year 2021, three issues on the themes:
a) Evolving Geopolitical Dynamics in Indo-Pacific during the Pandemic Era.
b) Re-emergence of Quad: Mechanism for Dialogue and Security.
c) Island States of Indian Ocean: Development and Security Perspective, were published.


SIOS Building


Since the organization was established without seed money or recurring financial resources, and was deliberately launched as a not-for-profit NGO (research Centre/think tank), it could never afford a building of its own. It therefore operated from a rented accommodation from 1987 till Apr 2014, and from the founding Vice Chairman’s (Prof Satish Chandra’s) residence thereafter—till the latter’s demise in Oct 2017. After that date, the Society has not had a venue to operate from. However, due to the single-minded focus of the founding Vice Chairman, the Society managed to receive allotment of a (leased) plot from the DDA, in the Lado Sarai Institutional Area, in 2002. A building has been erected on the plot and the Society has established its office there and started functioning from its new premises from early 2021 thus fulfilling the vision of its founders 34 years ago.