The Ministers' meeting will be preceded by the 24th Committee of Senior Official (CSO) Meeting on 9-10 October. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Senior Government Officials of IORA’s 23 Member States will be convened to take stock of the progress that the Association has made, since the last meeting in Bangladesh, and to discuss the future initiatives of this region. The IORA’s 11 Dialogue Partners, Specialized Agencies and Observers also join in the meetings.
This October's Meeting is marking the handing over of IORA Chairship from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the current Chair, who took over the Chairship in 2021, to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka will serve as Chair for a period of two years (2023-2025), while India will become the Vice-Chair of the Association. Bangladesh will remain part of the IORA Troika for the period, which will be constituted as follows: Sri Lanka (Chair), India (Vice-Chair) and Bangladesh (Past-Chair). The IORA Council of Ministers Meeting (COM) is an annual meeting whereby Foreign Ministers from IORA Member States meet to discuss and decide over IORA priorities.