<span style="color: #222222;">Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today launched the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region, IFC-IOR at the Information Management and Analysis Centre, IMAC in Gurugram.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Speaking on the occasion, Ms Sitharaman said, the objective of having an IFC-IOR is more for partners, equals to work towards keeping the global commons safe and democratically available for all. <br />''<br />''She said, in addition to utilising the collective wisdom and resources towards addressing the myriad challenges in the region, the IFC-IOR will help interface and integrate, wherein, the country will benefit from each other's best practices and expertise. The Defence Minister said, IFC-IOR will help foster bonds of trust, camaraderie and partnership.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said,  IFC – IOR shall be a collaborative construct that will work with partners, countries as well as international agencies to enhance maritime security and safety.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said that it will also aim to work closely with the multi-national constructs and other information fusion centres. Admiral Lanba said, the IFC-IOR will work towards capability building in the region, coordination of incident response and disaster relief in time and share submarine safety information.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Apart from representation by officials from the Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Home Affairs, Shipping and Ambassadors and Resident Defence Attaches of partner countries also participated in the event.</span>