New Delhi/UNI: External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will attend the 7th Indian Ocean Conference which is being held in Perth, Australia, on February 9-10, a government statement said on Thursday.

The Indian Ocean Conference is a flagship consultative forum for countries in the Indian Ocean region, organised annually by the Ministry of External Affairs, in association with the India Foundation.

The theme of this edition of the conference is "Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean”.

The Ministry said Jaishankar would address the inaugural session of the conference, along with Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka, Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, and Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore.

Over 22 countries, senior officials from 16 countries, and six multilateral organisations will attend the 7th Indian Ocean Conference.

The conference will also witness the participation of over 400 social and corporate leaders, policy practitioners, scholars, professionals, and media personnel from about 40 countries, the Ministry of External Affairs statement said.

Since its inception in 2016 in Singapore, the "Indian Ocean Conference has played an important role in bringing together countries to deliberate upon the prospects of regional cooperation for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)", the MEA added.