India participated in the following international conferences/ meetings during 1997-98:

International symposium on "Antarctic Science beyond 2000" held at Christ Church, New Zealand from 16-18 April, 1997.

Second meeting of the Legal and Technical Commission and the third and the resumed third session of the International Seabed Authority and the meetings of the States Parties to the UN Convention on Law of the Sea held at Kingston, Jamaica, in May, 1997.

The XXI Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held at Christ church, New Zealand in May, 1997. India is a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty.

Expert Meeting on Development of Methodology for management of Coral Reefs at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July, 1997.

XIX Session of the Assembly of IOC at Paris from 2nd to 18th July 1997 as a Member of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission(IOC) a UNESCO body which promotes marine scientific investigations and provides cooperation among the member states relating to ocean research and services.

Meeting on Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (WG-EMM) and WG-EMM Sub Group on statistics of Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) held from 14th July to 1st August' 97 at San Diego and La Jolla (California, USA).

The Ninth Annual Meeting of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) and the Standing Committee on Antarctic Logistics & Operations (SCALOP) held at Cape Town, South Africa from 25-29 September, 1997 which are concerned with the logistic matters relating to Antarctica, including protection of environment and waste disposal mechanisms.

IPCC meeting as a IOC representative, held at Maldives during 25-27, September, 1997 and the meeting of officers of IOC held at Paris during 27-29 October,1997, as a member on its Executive Council.

Regional Workshop for implementation of Global Programme of Action for prevention of degradation of marine environment from land based activities held at Colombo in October, 1997.

Meeting of Development, Operations,Statutes and Structure (DOSS) of IOC held in Paris during 20-22 October 1997, as a member of this International Committee.

16th meeting of CCAMLR and the scientific committee held at Hobart, Australia during 27th october'97 to 7th November'97. The Commission for Conservation of Antractic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) governs the marine living resources in the Antarctic area. India is a party to the Convention and is also a member of the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Symposium organised by International Society for offshore and Polar Engineers, at Seoul, South Korea on 24-25, November, 1997.

Global Coral reef Monitoring Network-South Asia Workshop at Hikkaduva Marine Sanctuary, Sri Lanka, from Nov.30 -Dec.4,'97.

Coastal Panel Meeting of Global Ocean Observing System(GOOS) Programme of IOC at Paris in March 1998 as a founder member.