Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
19-January, 2017 15:29 IST
Shri Kalraj Mishra Inaugurates Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries

India to sign MoU for MSME Cooperation With IORA Member Countries Tomorrow



Union Minister of MSME, Shri Kalraj Mishra today inaugurated Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member countries. Speaking on the occasion, he said that this workshop will strengthen economic relationship amongst the member countries in the field of trade and investment facilitation especially in MSME sector. He also stated that India has Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 18 countries for cooperation in MSME sector. The National Small Industries Corporation of India, Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of MSME has 34 MoUs with its counterpart organizations of foreign countries for cooperation in MSME sector.

Shri Kalraj Mishra Union Minister for MSME inaugurating the Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries



Shri Mishra also stated that this Workshop on SME cooperation will facilitate exchange of ideas, concerns and experiences of IORA member states and would help evolve a common MoU to address the emerging challenges in the region in MSME sector. He emphasized that the resilience in IORA over the last 20 years has been its innate strength. IORA’s evolution and growth have consistently seen an upward trajectory. He said that this strength must be reinforced by ensuring independence of strategy and priority. The onus of strengthening the regionalism in a composite manner must rest first on the shoulders of IORA members themselves.

Representatives of IORA member countries

Minister of State for MSME Shri Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary has emphasized that the IORA region has emerged as a strong one with the highest growth prospects in the world. He also stated that India and IORA together represent a huge market in which suppliers can build scale and efficiency and investors can allocate capital most productively.

IORA Secretary General, Shri Bhagirath spoke about the IORA secretariat’s efforts in enhancing cooperation between the IORA member countries in terms of industrial and cultural cooperation. He also spoke about how the MSMEs in the IORA member countries help in alleviating poverty by creating more job opportunities.

Secretary MSME, Shri KK Jalan said that with the combined population of over 2 billion, IORA and India represent a vast market for goods and services and it is highly attractive due to large segment of high consuming middle class of about 600 million persons in India. He also expressed that this workshop will inspire the member countries to further cooperation and seek opportunities to support the progress towards mutual goals.

Background:

Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries was organized in pursuance of the commitment made by India in the Economic Business Conference - II (EBC- II) held in Dubai in April, 2016. The Ministry of MSME, Government of India in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and IORA Secretariat organized this Workshop, wherein 23 representatives from 13 member countries, viz., Mozambique, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Comoros, Kenya, Seychelles, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Australia, UAE and Yemen participated.

The areas of cooperation will be chalked out and the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in these sectors will be signed tomorrow. The workshop was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of MSME and IORA Secretariat.



********

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
20-January, 2017 15:49 IST
India concludes MoU on MSME Cooperation with Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member Countries

IORA Special Fund Created to Carry Out Activities Under this MoU

Ministry of MSME, Government of India finalised MoU on MSME Cooperation with Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) member countries. The MoU will take effect for each party upon signature by 5 countries. The MoU finalized would be signed soon at an appropriate forum.



The focus areas of the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) are:

1. To finalise linkages and alliances amongst MSMEs organizations, associations and various institutions engaged in MSME development in their countries.

2. Exchange best practices, policies and programs for MSME development

3. Exchange greater involvement of MSMEs in the global supply chain, increase their market access.

4. Promote youth and women’s economic empowerment.

5. Encourage synergies with the IORA forum.



IORA Secretariat at Mauritius will be the coordinating agency for the implementation of the MoU. IORA special fund created for the member countries to use it for to carrying out activities envisaged under this MoU.

Background:

Workshop on MSME Cooperation amongst IORA member countries was organized in pursuance of the commitment made by India in the Economic Business Conference - II (EBC- II) held in Dubai in April, 2016. The Ministry of MSME, Government of India in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and IORA Secretariat organized this Workshop, wherein 29 representatives from 14 member countries, viz., Mozambique, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Comoros, Kenya, Seychelles, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Australia, UAE and Yemen participated.



MoU for MSME Cooperation amongst Indian Ocean Rim Association member countries will provide an appropriate platform to IORA MSMEs to interact with each other, participate in trade fairs, facilitate buyer-seller meetings and visits of delegations, acquire appropriate technology and explore trade and investment opportunities. The MoU will enhance market access, promote access to finance, promote innovation as a key competitive advantage for MSME, build capacity in management and entrepreneurship.



MSMEs constitute more than 90% of all business enterprises in the world and provide nearly 70% of global employment. The overwhelming majority of MSMEs in the developing world are micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees. India has more than 48 million MSMEs. These contribute more than 45% of India’s industrial output, 40% of the country’s total exports and create 1.3 million jobs every year.



India has already signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 18 countries for cooperation in MSME sector. The National Small Industries Corporation of India, Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of MSME has 34 MoUs with its counterpart organizations of foreign countries for cooperation in MSME sector.







********

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...o-lay-stress-on-rights-of-navigation-4555595/
Connectivity, open maritime trade and rights of navigation are the areas that India will lay emphasis on during the Summit of the 21-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to be held in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, who will embark on the two-day trip of the Indonesian capital to attend the Summit, is also expected to pitch for cooperation among the think tanks of the member countries to evolve common strategies to meet the conventional and non-conventional threats, official sources said.

The theme of the Summit is ‘Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean’.

At the meeting, a declaration on countering violent extremism is expected to be adopted along with the IORA Concord and an action plan.

“The IORA Concord is a strategic document which sets the ways and means to strengthen the regional architecture in the Indian Ocean Rim and elevate IORA as a regional cooperation,” according to an official statement from the IORA Secretariat.

IORA is a regional forum which aims at facilitating and promoting economic co-operation, bringing together, inter-alia, the representatives of the Member States’ governments, businesses and academia.

The association comprises India, Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

It also has seven Dialogue Partners — the US, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari departs for Jakarta, Indonesia to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in New Delhi on March 06, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari addressing the Media Onboard Air India One Special Aircraft on his way to Jakarta, Indonesia, to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, on March 06, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari being received by the Minister of Defence, Indonesia, Mr. Ryamizard Ryacudu, on his arrival, at the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 06, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari being received by the Minister of Defence, Indonesia, Mr. Ryamizard Ryacudu, on his arrival, at the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 06, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari being received by the President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo and his spouse Mrs. Iriana Joko Widodo, at the Jakarta Convention Center, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 06, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari with the President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo and his spouse Mrs. Iriana Joko Widodo, at the Jakarta Convention Center, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 06, 2017.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari being received by the President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo, at the opening ceremony of the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari at the opening ceremony of the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017. The President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo and other leaders are also seen.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari at the opening ceremony of the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017. The President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo and other leaders are also seen.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari signing the IORA Concord the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017. The President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo and other leaders are also seen.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari meeting the Secretary General of IORA, Shri K.V. Bhagirath, on the sidelines of 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari meeting the President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, on the sidelines of 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari meeting the Vice President of Indonesia, Mr. H. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, on the sidelines of 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari meeting the President of Yemen, Mr. Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, on the sidelines of 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari meeting the President of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo, on the sidelines of 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari being bid farewell by the Minister of Law and Human Right, Indonesia, Mr. Yasonna Laoly, at the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari departs for New Delhi, after attending the 20th Indian Ocean Rim Association Leaders’ Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 07, 2017.

 

[Hindustani78]

Vice President's Secretariat
08-March, 2017 12:04 IST
Outcomes of First IORA summit satisfying: Vice President

Addresses Media onboard

Onboard Air India One Special Aircraft

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that the outcomes of the First Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Leaders' Summit were satisfying. He was addressing the Media onboard Air India One Special Aircraft while returning back from Jakarta, Indonesia after participating in the Summit, on March 07, 2017.

Responding to a question on Association's view on terrorism, the Vice President said that the Summit adopted the Declaration on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism which is a synthesis of the views the region has on the matter. He further said that there is no divergence that violence in any form is an undesirable thing for civilized life and people are beginning to realize that violence has to be resisted. The view that anybody can get away by promoting terrorism is getting increasingly sidelined, he added.

Responding to a question on the alleged shooting of an Indian fisherman by the Sri Lankan Navy, the Vice President said that he had taken up the matter with the President of Sri Lanka when he met him on the side-lines of the Summit. He further informed that the Sri Lankan President had told him that he had spoken to the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy who had told him that no such incident had occurred form the Sri Lankan side. The Sri Lankan President has ordered a full and complete enquiry into the matter, he added.

Responding to a question on the existence of the IORA, the Vice President said that a renewed focus on the Indian Ocean Rim had commenced at the Bengaluru meeting in 2011 and Indonesia was taking the initiative forward along the core areas that were identified earlier. There is a new thrust to the Association's activity now and it is an identified body with 21 participating countries, he added.

On the Indian proposal for setting up an IORA Centre of Excellence (ICE), the Vice President said that all member States are doing extensive work on matters related to maritime issues and interests. He further said that, the first exercise would be to pool the knowledge. India has the expertise and willingness to lead this effort, which will be an online setup and anybody can access it and give input to it, he added.

Responding to a question on increasing exports to Indonesia, the Vice President said that this issue was also discussed with the Indonesian President and there is renewed interest in expanding our trade ties. There has been considerable progress in two areas, namely acquisition of defence equipment and in the pharmaceuticals sector, he added.

***

 

[Hindustani78]

No real global cooperation against terror, says Ajit Doval

He underlined the need for cooperation among countries in the Indian Ocean Rim Association.

Written by Rahul Tripathi | New Delhi | Published:March 17, 2017 5:17 am
http://indianexpress.com/article/in...ation-against-terror-says-ajit-doval-4572520/

NSA Ajit Doval
National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Thursday expressed concerns over lack of global cooperation against terrorism. He said there has been “no real” cooperation for containing international terror. “Two things have gone wrong — either it (international cooperation) is not an antidote or there has not really been an international cooperation. I belong to the school that believes in the second category,” he said at a counter-terror conference organised by India Foundation, a thinktank run by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav.

He underlined the need for cooperation among countries in the Indian Ocean Rim Association. “Terrorism is not something that remained constant… 20 years ago we never talked about social media, cyberspace or internet exposure,” Doval said. “They (terrorists) have evolved from one stage to another. What al Qaida was in 1996 is entirely different from what Baghdadi, IS or Daesh is today.” He added that the world is facing the fourth generation of warfare, “where the frontier will be civil society and the enemy will be from civil society…”

The NSA referred to the long-pending Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. “India was the one that pioneered the draft (in 1996). It is pending on two issues. One is the definition of terrorism. There has been an insistence by a few countries that the cause at times justifies the ends and therefore, if the end is justified, then means should be condoned and it should not come under the category of terrorism… If we really have to fight terrorism, we have to unite on both the means and ends, and if the world is really serious about countering international terrorism, it will have to come to a common definition of terrorism…”

He continued, “A terrorist from one country today cannot be extradited from another country except by the due process of law like a common criminal.”

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Earth Science
29-March, 2017 18:29 IST
Early Warning for Tsunami and Earthquake

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), which is based at & operated by Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad has all necessary infrastructure and capabilities to give tsunami advisories to India as well as to Indian Ocean countries. ITEWC has been designated as one of the Regional Tsunami Service Providers for the entire Indian Ocean Region by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) on 12 October 2011. Since then, ITEWC is providing tsunami warnings and related services to all countries in the Indian Ocean Rim (24 Countries) beyond fully serving the India’s coastline / Islands. The centre is capable of detecting tsunami-genic earthquakes occurring in the Indian Ocean as well as in the Global Oceans within 10 minutes of their occurrence and disseminates the advisories to the concerned authorities within 20 minutes through email, fax, SMS, Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and website.

The ITEWC consists of national and international observational network of seismic stations, sea level gauge stations and tsunami buoys around the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Data from approximately 400 seismometers is being received in real-time and processed automatically to detect an earthquake of magnitude 4.0 and above anywhere on the globe. As soon as the earthquake is detected, warning centre transmits the first bulletin based on seismic data describing the location of earthquake, its magnitude, depth and other characters of the event. After issuing the first bulletin, seismic data are further analysed to improve the accuracy of earthquake parameters (magnitude, depth and location). The processing of seismic data is optimized to detect and characterize large earthquakes within earliest possible time.

A pilot project on Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system is under implementation for northern India (Uttarakhand) by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee which is funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Such type of system gives a time lead for a few seconds to little more than a minutefor issue of warning on occurrence of an earthquake, so that some remedial actions regarding vacating building, shutting down critical operations etc may be taken up.Having said that, it is appropriate to mention that so far earthquake prediction is not developed anywhere in the world with precise degree of accuracy with respect to time, space and magnitude.

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 upto 23.3.2017 Budget Expenditure Budget Expenditure Budget Expenditure Budget Expenditure 30.14 14.35 15.29 13.97 15.29 21.53 15.29 11.96 Although there is no proposal to acquire other systems available in the global market, but equipments are being acquired for the refinement of Tsunami warning criteria and that is an ongoing process. The new research techniques such as Water level inversion, real-time inundation modeling, real-time estimation of focal mechanism of earthquake to show the style of faulting and incorporation of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data into the warning chain are the few key issues that ITEWC has taken up on priority. All these will enable more informed decisions on evacuation, as well as to eliminate the potentially dangerous false evacuations.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****

 

[Hindustani78]

The Special Secretary, MHA & DG, Narcotics Control Bureau, Dr. Rina Mitra and the Secretary General, Office of Narcotics Control Board, Thailand, Mr. Sirinya Sitdhichai signing an MoU, in the presence of the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and the Minister of Justice of Thailand, Mr. Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, on Cooperation in Controlling Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, their Precursors and Chemicals and Drug Abuse, in New Delhi on June 30, 2017.

The Special Secretary, MHA & DG, Narcotics Control Bureau, Dr. Rina Mitra and the Secretary General, Office of Narcotics Control Board, Thailand, Mr. Sirinya Sitdhichai exchanging an MoU, in the presence of the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and the Minister of Justice of Thailand, Mr. Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, on Cooperation in Controlling Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, their Precursors and Chemicals and Drug Abuse, in New Delhi on June 30, 2017.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir at the signing in ceremony of the MoU between India and Thailand, on Cooperation in Controlling Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, their Precursors and Chemicals and Drug Abuse, in New Delhi on June 30, 2017. The Minister of Justice of Thailand, Mr. Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, the Special Secretary, MHA & DG, Narcotics Control Bureau, Dr. Rina Mitra and the Secretary General, Office of Narcotics Control Board, Thailand, Mr. Sirinya Sitdhichai are also seen.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir at the signing in ceremony of the MoU between India and Thailand, on Cooperation in Controlling Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, their Precursors and Chemicals and Drug Abuse, in New Delhi on June 30, 2017. The Minister of Justice of Thailand, Mr. Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, the Special Secretary, MHA & DG, Narcotics Control Bureau, Dr. Rina Mitra and the Secretary General, Office of Narcotics Control Board, Thailand, Mr. Sirinya Sitdhichai are also seen.

 

[Hindustani78]

Reuters, WELLINGTON, Sep 15 2017, 15:07 IST

Fiji, along with Interpol and the Singapore-based regional shipping regulator Tokyo MoU, are investigating the vessels for links to North Korea, a spokesman for the country's Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) told Reuters on Friday. Reuters file photo

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/633275/pacific-nations-crack-down-nkorean.html


South Pacific island nations are scouring shipping records for vessels with links to North Korea after Fiji said it had identified 20 falsely flagged ships it suspects the isolated regime is using to evade United Nations sanctions.

Fiji, along with Interpol and the Singapore-based regional shipping regulator Tokyo MoU, are investigating the vessels for links to North Korea, a spokesman for the country's Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) told Reuters on Friday. Interpol and Tokyo MoU did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their investigations.

The 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum this month agreed to launch an audit of every ship registered in the Pacific to search for any links to North Korea.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee said Pacific countries, including his own, were concerned North Korea was using falsely flagged cargo ships as one avenue to trade goods in spite of sanctions.

"What we do know is that declared North Korean GDP (gross domestic product) is not big enough to support the nuclear programme that they're running so there has to be significant black market or offbook revenue going into the country," Brownlee told Reuters in a phone interview this week.

The move came as the UN on Monday ramped up sanctions on North Korea, including tightening up oversight of vessels on the high seas. Authorities will now be allowed to check suspected vessels for prohibited cargo with the authority of the flag country.

UN sanctions introduced in August banned North Korean exports of seafood as part of efforts to curtail the regime's access to foreign funds.

North Korea had been expected to earn an estimated $295 million from seafood in 2017, one U.N. diplomat said.

In Fiji's case, the North Korean-linked ships had adopted the island nation's flag without formally registering, the MSAF said.

It was not known in what way the possibly more-than 20 vessels were linked to North Korea or what their suspected activities or locations were. The MSAF declined to provide details due to the ongoing investigation.

In addition to the fraudulent use of flags, Pacific governments were concerned North Korean vessels could be quietly registering in nations that allow international ships to use their flags.

"If it's not clear why they're on that register, in other words, they're not regular callers into Pacific ports, then further investigation is needed to untangle the ship owner," said Brownlee.

The review would take place over the next couple of months, Brownlee said, and Australia and New Zealand would provide intelligence to help the small island nations check any North Korean connections.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ng-of-indian-ocean-region/article19984925.ece
GOA, November 05, 2017 01:18 IST
Updated: November 05, 2017 08:16 IST

Aims to check Chinese dominance in key corridors

The Indian Navy is broadening its patrol areas in the Indian Ocean Region to cover all choke points in the face of increasing maritime threats, its chief Sunil Lanba told The Hindu.

“Last year, we had a relook at our deployment pattern and we reached a consensus within the Navy to have a mission-based deployment so that our areas of interest can be kept under permanent surveillance. So the ingress and egress routes of the Indian Ocean Region are being kept under surveillance so that we have better awareness and know what is happening,” Admiral Lanba said on the sidelines of the first Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC), which saw the participation of 10 Indian Ocean littoral states.

Under the mission-based deployment, 12 to 15 ships are now permanently deployed at the choke points and crucial sea lanes of communication.

Reference to China
Addressing the GMC, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had expressed concern that “extra-regional nations maintain near permanent presence” in the region, in an oblique reference to China. The Chinese have been sending ships to the northern Indian Ocean in the name of anti-piracy operations and over the last two to three years on average about 8-10 ships have been deployed. This August, the number shot up to 14.

Apart from getting access to several ports and facilities in the Indian Ocean, China recently opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, giving it the ability to monitor across the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf. “Now”, former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash told The Hindu, “it is imperative that our Navy should be more visible in our own waters.”

“Visibility is an important part of peacetime signalising,” he explained.

Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, former Western Naval Commander, said China, a huge importer of energy, has been trying to get past the Malacca dilemma, a critical choke point, from which most of its supplies pass through. He named three choke points for the Chinese — Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Hormuz and the Malacca straits — and added that they now have Djibouti at the Gulf of Aden and the Gwadar port and Chinese companies have acquired stakes in Kuantan port in Malaysia, close to the Malacca Straits. “Then all three choke points will be under the surveillance of the Chinese. That will slightly restrict the Indian Navy and the U.S. Navy,” he noted.

Speaking on the conclave, Admiral Lanba said the key takeaways were the identification of common security threats across all countries and a broader agreement for greater coordination and information sharing. The threats, essentially non-traditional in nature, include maritime terrorism, unregulated fishing, illegal fishing in the global commons, pollution, sea piracy, drug and human trafficking.

While India is looking at cooperative frameworks to deal with common threats, Adm. Lanba clarified that efforts like coordinated patrols and joint patrols will be done only with maritime neighbours. “We only do coordinated patrols and joint patrols with nations who are our maritime neighbours. We are not looking at joint patrols with the U.S. Navy at this moment,” he added.

Over the last year, the Navy, to test the waters, stepped up its presence and maintained round the clock surveillance on India’s vital areas of interest across the length and breadth of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This allows India to position itself as a net security provider in the region. “Earlier, there were flag showing missions in terms of overseas deployments for exercises and visits. The need of the hour is to change the nature of deployments. All choke points (meaning straits which connect seas or narrow water channels where ships and submarines of adversaries can be choked off) and sea lanes are now under 24/7 surveillance. They are now institutionalised deployments,” a senior Navy officer said.

The new mission-based deployment concept, which was unveiled in the Naval Commander’s Conference in May, has mission-ready ships and aircraft being deployed along critical sea lanes of communications and choke points from Malacca straits to the Persian Gulf. The biannual Naval Commander’s Conference, which recently reviewed its effectiveness, has formalised it.

The cycle of 12-15 ships in effect means a turnaround of 36-45 ships, with one set deployed, one set in transit, and one set in maintenance.

“These ships are deployed always ready to meet any eventuality across the spectrum of operations ranging from acts of maritime terrorism and piracy to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions,” the officer stated.

Adm. Arun Prakash said the new maritime strategy had listed “naval presence” as a mission. "This is, firstly, to reassure our friends that you are there, second to send a message to your adversaries and third, it is a measure of maritime domain awareness."

In this backdrop, he said Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea can be effectively monitored if India were to sit at the three choke points.

Another aspect is that India is positioning itself as the net security provider in the region and the first responder in the case of natural disasters.

For instance, in May, the Indian Navy was the first to respond to heavy rain and flooding in Sri Lanka as also to the requirements post Cyclone Mora in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Defence Minister of Indonesia, General (Ret.) Ryamizard Ryacudu paying homage to the martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate, in New Delhi on January 19, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Union Minister for Defence, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman welcoming the Defence Minister of Indonesia, General (Retd.) Ryamizard Ryacudu, at South Block, in New Delhi on January 19, 2018.

The Defence Minister of Indonesia, General (Retd.) Ryamizard Ryacudu inspecting the Tri-Services Guard of Honour, in New Delhi on January 19, 2018.

The Union Minister for Defence, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and the Defence Minister of Indonesia, General (Retd.) Ryamizard Ryacudu, at the delegation level talks, in New Delhi on January 19, 2018.

The Union Minister for Defence, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the memento to the Defence Minister of Indonesia, General (Retd.) Ryamizard Ryacudu, in New Delhi on January 19, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam during the 2nd Indian Ocean RIM Association Tourism Ministers’ Meeting, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on October 23, 2018.

The Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam attending the 2nd Indian Ocean RIM Association Tourism Ministers’ Meeting, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on October 23, 2018

The Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam attending the 2nd Indian Ocean RIM Association Tourism Ministers’ Meeting, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on October 23, 2018.