The Hindu : National : Malacca Straits security: role seen for Indian Navy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

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National

Malacca Straits security: role seen for Indian Navy

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 7. The visiting Malaysian Naval chief's discussions with his Indian counterpart here are being seen as part of the South-East Asian community's efforts to involve the Indian Navy in a regional security role particularly in keeping the sea lanes safe in the Malacca Straits — the piracy-prone narrow strip of sea channel that takes energy-carrying ships from the Bay of Bengal to South Asia's commercial heartland.

Both sides did not specifically touch on Kuala Lumpur's offer of a joint patrolling with Indian ships in the area leading to the Malacca Straits but the subject was in the foreground of the talks with Malaysia seeking suggestions from India on tackling the problem of sea bandits looting cargo ships, officials confirmed.

Reluctance overcome

With the U.S. Navy focussed on the Arabian Sea, Malaysia seems to have overcome its earlier reluctance to involve the Indian Navy in a sea lane sanitising role. Its neighbours such as Indonesia and Singapore view the Indian Navy as a reliable and non-controversial ally in ensuring that piracy does not escalate into terrorism and cause disruption in the Malacca Straits — in some places it is so narrow and shallow that a single sunk cargo carrier can disrupt supplies to the petroleum-dependent countries of Japan and South-East Asia. Malaysia too has come around to this view as its proposal for joint patrolling suggests.

"The Malaysian proposal for joint patrolling is still being considered at the Government level. We want all countries in the area to be amenable to our presence and don't want to send the wrong signals," said official sources. India has already embarked on the fourth series of joint patrolling with Indonesia in a part of a 200 nautical mile-long energy feeder path. On September 1, they agreed to conduct another one-month security patrol from Indira Point to the Indonesian coast in the area generally known as the "six-degree channel", one of the three routes through this area for east-west trade.

Pooling surveillance

India tightened its surveillance of the area after the September 2001 attack and also qualitatively beefed up its military presence by setting up its first tri-service military command in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In other words, a single officer who has always been from the Navy commands the army, the air force, the navy and the coast guard. The intention is to pool surveillance capabilities and ensure a faster and sharper response to any attempt at disruption in the area.

Heightened fears

Other nations beyond the Indira Point do not have a navy of the size, reach and punch of the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy has already patrolled the Malacca Straits on a request by the U.S. immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Security fears have recently heightened after a spurt in piracy during the middle of this year. The global economy missed a heartbeat after pirates opened automatic fire at a ship in June. The sinking of the ship had the potential to cause chaos in the region by disrupting oil supplies.

With Malaysia getting convinced of the Indian Navy's ability to play a non-threatening, security enhancing role, the stage appears set for it to play a more active regional role for which it has been preparing for quite sometime.

With wooers emerging from both sea boards (Mozambique and the Maldives on the west have availed of its services) the Cinderella days for the smallest of the three services have ended.

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