‘Navy has thwarted piracy in Arabian Sea’

The growing pre-eminence of the Indian Navy (IN) in what is now called the Indo-Pacific region – at the behest of the US-India strategic partnership – and also in the western Arabian Sea, reaching up to the Gulf of Aden is based on its consistent record of anti-piracy operations.

Evidently, the recent port visits by a flotilla of four ships including stealth varieties – divided into groups of two – making port calls in countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman underline that fact.

Navy began the anti-piracy operations on October 23, 2008, and till now 52 “frontline” ships have patrolled the contested waters of the Gulf of Aden and the western Arabian Sea. “IN has till now escorted (seven years) 3,200 vessels of various flags including of India, and 23,000 Indian seafarers.”

During the deployments, the IN engaged and thwarted 40 piracy and took into custody 120 pirates. Of course, the usual practice most navies indulged in anti-piracy operations was to not take any prisoners, for problems of jurisdiction. They used to be disarmed, put in their dhows (small boats used typically by the Arabs) with just enough water and food and were left to themselves.

Many observers, including former senior naval officers, however, feel that deploying “frontline” assets in low-grade operations like anti-piracy missions is “waste of scarce and precious resources.” They feel a professional judgment of the IN has been made by the navies of the world on the basis of their prowess exhibited otherwise, in various bilateral and multilateral exercises, say.

But they claim what has emerged in the last few years is the emergence of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N). For six hundred years, naval experts say that the Chinese never left the waters of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits. Yet, they have ventured forth now and are creating naval replenishment stations in various littoral nations, including that of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The strategy of the Chinese in the waters of the Indian Ocean and <g data-gr-id="33">even Gulf of Aden</g> showed finesse. They began taking part in the anti-piracy operations in 2009 under the general UN mandate and created <g data-gr-id="32">place</g> for themselves in the naval arena. In the process, they created a benign tradition of sea-faring that sent messages to the littoral that they may not be there spelling trouble. After gaining the confidence of the nations over a few <g data-gr-id="31">years</g> they then ventured for harbour stops. The diplomatic moves followed. So came up the Hambantota in Sri Lanka, which the Chinese built as they did in Pakistan with Gwadar in eastern Balochistan. Now, of course, they are a notable presence in the region.