Page 12 - The Indian EYE 090222

OPINION SEPTEMBER 02, 2022 | The Indian Eye 12

Apart from China, the threat of by delegitimizing China’s anti-piracy
piracy has provided a reason to al- operations in the GoA.
most all extra-regional major powers The legitimacy to the multina-
to have a permanent naval presence tional anti-piracy operations off the
in the region, encompassing ship coast of Somalia are provided by
deployment and naval bases. Apart successive UNSC resolutions. With
from the Chinese base, Djibouti the imminent removal of the HRA
hosts Camp Lemonnier, home to the and piracy off the coast of Somalia
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) at an all-time low, there is a need
with around 4,000 personnel. Dji- for a re-think on the continuation of
bouti also hosts military facilities the UNSC resolutions authorizing
of several countries such as Japan, anti-piracy efforts in the IOR by ex-
France, Germany, Italy and Spain. tra-regional states.
Saudi Arabia too has a presence. India is currently serving as
The naval forces in the anti-pi- a non-permanent member of the
racy operations in the GoA include UNSC, and will complete its term in
the assets of EU under the European December 2022. India, in partner-
Union Naval Forces (EUNAVFOR) ship with the P5 and other non-per-
Operation ATALANTA, the counter manent members of the UNSC, will
piracy activities of the African Union, need to actively work to seek discon-
and independent anti-piracy patrols tinuation of the UNSC resolution au-
undertaken by individual countries, thorizing extra-regional presence for
including Japan, South Korea, Iran anti-piracy efforts in the GoA.
and Russia, apart from India and At the same time, India, with sup-
China. US-led maritime initiatives port of the US and other likeminded
include the Combined Maritime nations of the Indo-Pacific, will need
Forces (CMF), a 34-nation multina- to strengthen the maritime securi-
tional maritime partnership, operat- ty mechanism of the IOR. Regional
ing out of Bahrain. Three Combined maritime security mechanisms exist,
Task Forces (CTF) operate under both at the political as well as the ex-
the CMF, of which the CTF 151 is ecution level, in the form of IORA
responsible for counter-piracy oper- and the IONS, which, despite having
ations. the potential, have not been optimal-
The Indian Ocean is central to ly utilized. Additionally, both IORA
India’s maritime interests and con- and IONS, have a wide regional rep-
cerns. India’s location gives it a van- resentation in the form of dialogue
tage point in the IOR and India’s partners and observers. Both IORA
size, trade links and its EEZ link its and IONS have Maritime Security
security environment directly with as part of their charter and are best
the extended neighborhood. Sever- suited to undertake maritime securi-
al extra-regional nations look up to ty governance and execution roles in
India as the first responder in a ca- the IOR, if suitably strengthened and
lamity, a net provider of security in Cross-deck helicopter landing underway as INS Sumedha participates in supported.
the region, and seek collaborative a Maritime Partnership Exercise with HMAS Anzac of the Royal Australian Navy, in Perth Further, these organizations
partnerships in the maritime domain. recently (ANI Photo/ SpokespersonNavy Twitter) have been conceptualized and sup-
The Indian Navy has been play- ported by India, which has a vital
ing a maritime leadership role in the The IN has been actively work- planes, are tasked with flying sorties, stake in the maritime security in the
IOR, due to its multi-dimensional ing towards capacity-building and almost every day, from INS Rajali in IOR. IN is the most potent and capa-
capabilities and active presence in capability enhancement of navies of Arakonnam, Tamil Nadu and INS ble navy in the region with the largest
the region. Ensuring maritime secu- friendly countries in IOR by provid- Hansa in Goa. bilateral and multilateral networks.
rity and freedom of navigation in the ing hardware and platforms, which The rise of China’s maritime India’s role as a NSP, moreover, has
Indian Ocean and the wider Indo-Pa- includes ships and aircraft for the threat has been instrumental in the been supported by the US and the
cific region is key security imperative EEZ surveillance. India has also revival and growth of several bilat- wider Indo-Pacific Community.
and one of the key objectives of In- been expanding its outreach in the eral, trilateral and multilateral na-
dia’s engagement with its partners. IOR by improving maritime domain val joint exercises. Prominent ones Captain Anurag Bisen is Research
IN is the only navy in the region that awareness (MDA) and extending the include RIMPAC, Malabar and La Fellow at Manohar Parrikar Institute
has a multi-dimensional capability, operational reach of the IN through Perouse and other trilateral exercises for Defense Studies and Analyses
operates aircraft carriers and nuclear regular mission-based deployments including US, Japan, France and Aus- Views expressed are of the author and
submarines, has the widest surveil- (MDP). The re-orientation to MDP tralia. The re-emergence of Quad 2.0 do not necessarily reflect the views of
lance reach to monitor all the Indian has meant that 15 warships of the In- has been largely attributed to counter the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
Ocean chokepoints and has the wid- dian Navy are patrolling seven areas the maritime threat posed by China. Government of India.
est range of bilateral and multilateral of the waters around India, beyond It is therefore in the collective
networks. As part of its foreign coop- the country’s EEZ, keeping an eye on interest of the larger Indo-Pacific This is the abridged version of the In-
eration initiatives, the IN presently all entry and exit routes to and from maritime community to deny China troduction of the book which appeared
carries bilateral naval exercises with the Indian Ocean.32 In addition to the advantages it is gaining through first in the Comment section of the web-
14 navies and coordinated patrols these deployments, Long Range the APTF operations and using it to site (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar
with four, most of which are in the Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) extend maritime hegemony in the In- Institute for Defense Studies and Anal-
Indo-Pacific. yses, New Delhi on August 30, 2022
aircraft, like the Boeing Poseidon 8I do-Pacific. This can only be achieved

www.TheIndianEYE.com