What happened:
On February 20, the Indian Navy assumed the Chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium at the 9th Conclave of Chiefs in Visakhapatnam, taking over from the Royal Thai Navy after 16 years.
Why it matters:
Led by Chief of the Naval Staff Dinesh K Tripathi, India’s tenure aims to strengthen maritime security cooperation through working groups on HADR, interoperability and information sharing across the Indian Ocean Region.