Defence.in published on 6 December 2023 an article titled "To Increase Its Influence in Indian Ocean Region, China Will Host the Second IORF Meeting."
The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), a branch of the Communist Party of China, will host this week the second meeting of the Indian Ocean Region Forum (IORF). At the first meeting of the IORF in 2022, nineteen nations attended, including seven from Africa: Kenya. Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Djibouti.
India, which leads the 23-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), has not been invited to the IORF. The Chinese forum appears to be an effort to counter the influence of the IORA in the Indian Ocean.
