The Hindu : International : India, Singapore hold 'maritime exercise'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

International

International

India, Singapore hold 'maritime exercise'

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, MARCH 5. India and Singapore have, for the first time in over a decade, held a `maritime exercise' in the South China Sea. The 10-day exercise concluded on Thursday.

All previous India-Singapore naval exercises, which began in 1994, were carried out off Kochi in the name and style of `Lion King' series. The latest exercise, the first of a new series, is called the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX-05).

SIMBEX-05 was held in Singapore's `naval environment' as part of a `natural progression' of the city-state's naval exercises with India. The choice of the South China Sea as the theatre was `not a signal to be given to somebody', Rear Admiral Sunil K. Damle, Flag Officer Commanding, Indian Navy Eastern Fleet, said in response to questions from The Hindu about the site of this exercise. The same was true for the exercises New Delhi was regularly holding with several countries in the Indian Ocean theatre or elsewhere, he emphasised.

SIMBEX-05, `a continuation of whatever has been going on so far' under the `Lion King' series, was `not really a war game'. It was a `mix' of traditional navy-to-navy exercise of the `encounter' kind and had elements of anti-piracy interdiction as also some aspects of anti-submarine operations.

However, `anti-terrorism was not the focus of SIMBEX-05', Rear Admiral Damle said. It was just a coincidence that the exercise was held in Singapore at about the same time as an official-level meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations' Regional Forum (ARF) on confidence-building measures for maritime security. India was among the participants at the ARF meeting organised by Singapore.

SIMBEX-05 acquired importance as an aspect of intensifying interactions between India and Singapore on the basis of their recent defence cooperation agreement that extends to the two armies and air forces too.

`Feeling of security'

On India's overall naval posture in relation to East Asia, Rear Admiral Damle said, `We are showing our presence here so that our ships, ships flying the Indian flag, have a feeling of security' while on the high seas.

About India's relevance to security along the strategic Straits of Malacca in the new context of concerns over international terrorism, he pointed out that the littoral States, Indonesia as also Malaysia and Singapore, were already engaged in coordinated patrolling. However, `we would definitely like to come in and help them, whenever they feel the need [for us] to do so, in terms of cooperation'. Some time ago, India had provided naval escort for U.S. ships carrying high-value cargo through the Straits of Malacca, and the littoral States had agreed to that operation.

Although the Indian Navy pulled out its two ships sent to Indonesia for tsunami relief within about two weeks, the `Operation Gambhir', as it was designated, was `fully' carried out to the satisfaction of the host country and the affected people, he said.

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