By PTI
LONDON: India has been re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council after elections were held at its Assembly in London for the 2022-23 biennium.
India’s election falls under the Category of 10 states with “the largest interest in international seaborne trade”, alongside Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The newly elected Council will meet formally at the conclusion of the 32nd Assembly for the IMO’s 126th session on Wednesday, when it will elect its Chair and Vice-Chair for the next biennium.
“India is re-elected to International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council,” the High Commission of India in London said in a Twitter statement following the election on Friday.
“India’s delegation to IMO extends heartfelt thanks to all fellow member states, looks forward to working with all for the achievement of our common goals,” it said.
The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the organisation.
Between sessions of the Assembly, the Council performs the functions of the Assembly, except that of making recommendations to governments on maritime safety and pollution prevention.
China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the UK and the US were elected to the Council under the Category of 10 States with the “largest interest in providing international shipping services”.
Meanwhile, another 20 states not elected under the two categories were elected to the Council to ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world as having “special interests in maritime transport or navigation”.
The 20 countries in the list are Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Vanuatu.
The 32nd Assembly of IMO is currently meeting at the IMO headquarters in London between December 6 and 15.
All 175 member states and three associate members are entitled to attend the Assembly, which is the IMO’s highest governing body.
The intergovernmental organisations with which agreements of cooperation have been concluded and international non-governmental organisations in consultative status with IMO are also invited to attend.
The Assembly normally meets once every two years in regular session.
It is responsible for approving the work programme, voting the budget and determining the financial arrangements of the Organisation.
It also elects the Organisation’s 40-member council at these meetings for the next two-year period.
