India Launches Initiative on Interoperability Among Navies

Indian Government News, India has launched an initiative to bring about interoperability among navies of the Indian Ocean region; with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting the tone by saying such cooperation was of “paramount importance” to tackle threats of terrorism from the seas. 
 
With 27 heads of navies from virtually all the littoral states barring Iran in attendance, Singh said such an initiative was timely to tackle rising threats to the major international sea lanes through which passed 70 percent of the world's energy supplies. 
 
Though Tehran was not present at the two-day Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), New Delhi said “space was reserved” for it. 
 
Major regional naval powers like Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the bulk of Arab states, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and others are attending the conference which would dwell upon plans to formulate a regional collective response to threats of terrorism, sea piracy and natural disasters. 
 
Though the French Naval chief was present, major international naval powers like the US, Russia and China were not invited. However, top security experts from some of these nations are attending. 
 
At the conference, India made it clear that the IONS-08 Initiative was not a move to forge a military alliance, but to develop capability to collectively meet the common emerging threats. 
 
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said high level of trade and economic growth was being witnessed in the region which dictated the need to ensure safety and security of the sea lanes. 
 
Pointing that recent years had seen rise in crimes like terrorism, piracy and smuggling of narcotics and arms in the Indian Ocean region, he said there was need for cooperation among the littoral navies to prevent such transnational crimes. 
 
“The perpetrators of these crimes are well organised and well-funded transnational syndicates which take full advantage of the vastness of oceans.” 
 
“The need for cooperation among the navies of the region in preventing such transnational crimes is, therefore, of paramount importance,” he said. 
 
Singh said the sea lanes of the region had emerged as one of the most important lines of communication in the world with container handling at the ports of Colombo, Mumbai, Chittagong, Bangkok and Malaysia's Port Klan, registering double-digit growth. 
 
“A growing percentage of the world's large merchant ships and bulk carrier ships fly an Asian flag and this expansion in trade and economic growth dictates the need to ensure the safety and security of the sea lanes,” he said. 
 
Defence Minister A K Antony, in his address, cautioned the littoral states “against seeking to import extra-regional template” while deciding on regional issues. 
 
“I encourage them to explore a variety of regionally- relevant and regionally-sensitive solutions to problems — not by extra-regional players often pursuing agendas of their own — but by regional players themselves,” he said. 
 
The symposium would be followed by a conclave of naval chiefs from 27 countries.