As many as 26 of the 32 countries that constitute the membership of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are participating in the 10th edition of the event that would commence at Kochi on Tuesday.

The two-day seminar aims to discuss maritime issues pertaining to cooperative capacity-building to deal with common security concerns in the region. 

"The IONS initiative endeavours to generate a flow of information among naval professionals so as to enable a common understanding of regional maritime issues and in turn facilitate generation of mutually-beneficial maritime security outcomes," the Indian Navy said in a release on Monday.

The theme for this year's seminar is "IONS as a Catalyst for SAGAR". 

SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. 

It is in consonance with India's 'Act East' policy and the nation's diplomatic, economic and military outreach in the region.-IANS