Terrorism and maritime stability have topped the agenda in meetings between Indian Ocean nations in Jakarta, with Australia hailing a landmark declaration on preventing violent extremism.

With two thirds of the world's oil shipments and half of the world's container ships passing through the Indian Ocean, Indonesian President Joko Widodo spruiked the waters as "the future" at the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) business summit on Monday

"(Around) 2.7 billion people are inhabiting the IORA regions. That's why, Indian Ocean is the ocean of the future and the future of world's economy lies in this region," he said.

Both Indonesia and Australia are looking to the region for new opportunities both in trade and tourism and are also hoping to create fresh avenues of co-operation with countries they may otherwise not meet diplomatically. Maintaining stability, security and peace in the region is paramount to achieving this.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the association had adopted the "first ever declaration" on counter-terrorism and preventing violent extremism – with the countries committing to share information, best practice and to co-operate.

"A number of Indian Ocean Rim countries are at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and violent extremism," she told reporters. Among the 21 members of IORA are Iran, Somalia, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia was looking to include UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) when it came to formulating a plan around governance in the Indian Ocean.

Last week Director General for Asia Pacific, Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Desra Percaya said they wanted to prevent another South China Sea by ensuring an agreed framework of behaviour or code of conduct within the waters was adopted.

"For our strategic interest, we don't want the Indian Ocean to become a region where there is major fighting for influence or power," he said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will meet with President Joko Widodo for the second time in less than two weeks when he attends IORA on Tuesday. (AAP)

Source: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/06/counter-terrorism-declaration-adopted-jakarta-talks