9th Indian Ocean Conference opens in Port Louis with calls for regional solidarity
The 9th Indian Ocean Conference convened in Port Louis, Mauritius on September 5, 2026, bringing together foreign ministers and senior officials from across the Indian Ocean littoral. India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar urged member nations to stay cohesive amid mounting global pressures, while Nepal's Foreign Minister made a distinctive contribution by drawing a direct line between the accelerating melting of Himalayan glaciers and the future stability of the Indian Ocean region.
Jaishankar urges unity amid global turbulence
India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke at the 9th Indian Ocean Conference in Port Louis, calling on Indian Ocean nations to remain unified in the face of escalating global turbulence. Jaishankar framed the Indian Ocean region as a vital zone of trade, security and civilizational exchange that demands coordinated governance from its member states. He warned that fragmentation among littoral nations would leave the region vulnerable to outside interference and diminish its collective influence in shaping global rules. India, he argued, was committed to acting as a responsible net security provider and a partner in building regional capacity across economic, maritime and diplomatic domains. Jaishankar's remarks reflected India's broader Indo-Pacific posture, which seeks to position New Delhi as an indispensable anchor for island and coastal states including Mauritius, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Seychelles. His appeal for cohesion came against the backdrop of intensifying great-power competition and trade disruption affecting shipping lanes through the Indian Ocean, underscoring the strategic stakes for the region's smaller and mid-sized nations. [1]
Nepal FM brings landlocked nation to ocean forum
Nepal's Foreign Minister traveled to Port Louis to participate in the 9th Indian Ocean Conference, affirming Kathmandu's commitment to the multilateral forum despite the country's landlocked geography. Nepal's presence at an Indian Ocean summit signals Kathmandu's recognition that maritime trade routes and Indian Ocean governance affect its own economic connectivity, given that Nepalese imports and exports pass through Indian ports. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally confirmed the minister's attendance, which also served as an opportunity for bilateral sideline meetings with counterparts from island and coastal states. The conference visit came at a particularly demanding moment for Nepal, as the country was simultaneously managing the aftermath of devastating flash floods along the Bhote Koshi River corridor that had killed hundreds and displaced thousands more. That the Foreign Minister still made the journey to Port Louis underlined the diplomatic priority Nepal attaches to the Indian Ocean framework, where climate adaptation finance and regional connectivity are live concerns with direct relevance to Nepal's development agenda and its long-term relationship with India. [2]
Himalayan melt linked to Indian Ocean future
Nepal's Foreign Minister used the Port Louis summit to articulate a consequential argument: that the rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers is not merely an inland South Asian crisis but a threat with direct implications for the stability of the entire Indian Ocean region. By making this case at the 9th Indian Ocean Conference, the minister sought to reframe climate diplomacy in a way that connects mountain ecosystems to ocean governance. Glacial retreat accelerates river flow variability across the Ganges-Brahmaputra and Indus systems, affecting agriculture, freshwater supply and riverine communities in ways that ultimately ripple through to Indian Ocean trade, fishing economies and coastal populations. The argument found a receptive audience among small island delegates from Mauritius and other Indian Ocean states already confronting sea-level rise and extreme weather events. Nepal's statement was widely read as a call for richer nations and larger emitters to recognize the interconnected nature of climate vulnerability across mountain and marine environments, and to translate that recognition into concrete financing and technology-transfer commitments at future multilateral forums. [3]
Sources: [1] Firstpost · [2] Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nepal · [3] Khabarhub