India - The Indian Ocean Civilization & IOR

[vijaykarthik]

I am shocked in a way though. Isn't it the same place to whom we rushed water supplies when a calamity happened [or a fire broke out or something] and their only water treatment plant failed to work.

Is this how we get paid in return? I hope the establishment is doing something powerful behind the scenes to ensure that ridiculous stuff like this doesn't happen.

Regime changes are fine. But these kinds of thoughts are things that will end up staying regardless of parties [lets be fair to ourselves and think: Is the Con really different from BJP today when it comes to policies / approach? We get influenced by larger countries too!] Its more imperative that there is a clear stick in sight that Maldives is aware of and doesn't want to see that stick coming down in retaliation. Thats the best way to counter these inane measures. Taken by a parliament.

[kit]

The new Maldivian offer of leasing Islands for 1 billion looks suspiciously like tailored for state players who employ middle men for the job ...like the one businessman who bought an ex soviet carrier ostensibly for conversion to a hotel !!
.. Maldives need a regime change asap !!..

[A_Gupta]

The British colonial empire began and grew by their need to protect expanding commercial interests. It is unfortunate that this seems to be the inevitable path for any nation?

[schinnas]

China is proving to be an evil power like the Nazis. They are very ruthless and do not regard any convention or international agreement. As they become more powerful they become more arrogant and brazen in their power play. They actually make the US neo cons looks good. I cannot imagine a world where Cheen is the sole super power.

[A_Gupta]

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/61445
"Indian Ocean will remain demilitarized, Maldives assures India"

Maldives president Abdulla Yameen has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assure him that there will be no militarization in the Indian Ocean, Indian media has reported.

The assurance was reportedly conveyed in a letter that the Maldivian foreign secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed handed over to the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday.

Indian media quoted sources in the Indian government that President Yameen had written in response to Modi’s letter that had been conveyed by foreign secretary S Jaishankar who was in Maldives last week.

The assertion by the Maldives comes in the wake of the amendment to the Maldives’ constitution allowing foreign investors land ownership. The rushed passing of the amendment by the Parliament with ruling party majority has further fueled India’s claims of China seeking a military foothold in the Indian Ocean through the Maldives.

In his letter, Modi had reportedly been diplomatic, focusing on bilateral relations in positive terms, referring to the long-standing ties with defence and security cooperation being a vital component. The Prime Minister also noted in his letter that India has always assisted Maldives in the latter’s time of need, Indian media claimed.

Modi’s scheduled state visit to the Maldives in March was called off due to the increasing political strife in the Maldives at the time.

President Yameen also reiterated standing invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Maldives.

Indian media also quoted sources saying that there was no reason that Modi could not visit Maldives, if relations continued to improve and there were no concerns about any harm against Indian interests.

[A_Gupta]

Curious news-item.
"Maldives arrest foreigners heading for Diego Garcia"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 439928.cms

COLOMBO: The Maldives has arrested seven foreigners who left the country illegally by trawler and were headed for a US military base on Diego Garcia, a minister said on Tuesday.

The foreigners were intercepted in the locally hired boat on Monday off the Maldives' southernmost atoll of Addu heading to Diego Garcia several hundred kilometres away, said Mohamed Shareef, a minister attached to the president's office.

He did not give the nationalities of the seven, but local newspaper Haveeru said they were Germans and Italians.

Diego Garcia, a British territory in the Indian Ocean, is currently leased to the United States, which operates a highly-guarded military base used for bombing raids on Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Maldives is holding the group for leaving the honeymoon islands illegally.

"We are continuing investigations and so far the foreigners have told us that they were on a whale-watching expedition. But you don't step out in rough weather when there are eight-foot waves to look for whales," Shareef told AFP.

[schinnas]

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/61445
"Indian Ocean will remain demilitarized, Maldives assures India"

How would we be able to validate that? Will Maldives allow inspections by Indians to ensure they are demilitarized? It can be accomplished with appropriate wordings if Maldives signs a strategic partnership agreement with India.

[A_Gupta]

^^^ Shouldn't India's satellites be sufficient? Gagan, can you weigh in?

[schinnas]

^^^ Shouldn't India's satellites be sufficient? Gagan, can you weigh in?

That wouldn't be as binding as a formal strategic agreement signed by President and ratified in their constitution.

[A_Gupta]

http://www.firstpost.com/world/why-maur ... 55616.html
"Why Mauritius must wake up to the Islamic State threat fast"

The warning signal comes from recent revelation on the presence of some Mauritians in the IS and unconfirmed reports that over the last one year some locals have traveled to Syria to join the organisation. The most disturbing development, however, is a propaganda video of the IS showing a young Mauritian, a Hindu converted to Islam a decade ago, speaking Creole (the lingua franca of Mauritius) and exhorting all Muslim brothers and sisters to come and join the promised land and to 'free Mauritius'. The propaganda speech makes a blatant appeal to people to ignore calls by current and erstwhile prime ministers of Mauritius, US President Obama and UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron for communal harmony and adhere to the preaching of the prophet, who the video presenter claims , had advised the Muslims to fight with their bodies and swords. Such a development is unprecedented in the history of Mauritius. This outburst, disseminated through a video, appears to be negating the efforts of the moderate Muslims who have been counseling the younger lot not to fall prey to the IS’ radicalisation tirade promising paradise through jihad.

What should be worrisome for India is that Pakistan too has been active, diplomatically and otherwise, in this region. The last three Pakistan High Commissioners here have been retired military officers of the rank of major general. Such assignments may be a well-crafted strategy to keep an eye on the Indian influence in the geo-strategically critical country.

[A_Gupta]

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/65162
India thanks Maldives for 'India First' policy

ndia's top representative in Maldives thanked the island nation's president Monday for his "India first" policy, as he looks to end his tenure early next year.

Earlier this month, India had assigned Akilesh Mishra, who currently serves as the Consul General of India in Toronto, to replace Rajeev Shahare as the new high commissioner to the Maldives.

“[Mishra] is expected to join shortly in early January,” a statement, released by the Indian High Commission in Male after a farewell call on the president by Shahare Monday morning, read.

According to the high commission, during the meeting, Shahare said that it was a matter of great honour and privilege to serve as India’s high commissioner in the close and friendly neighbouring country of Maldives. He thanked President Yameen for his “India First” policy and endorsing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, it added.

“It was noted that the close and friendly relationship between India and Maldives witnessed further deepening of ties during the tenure of High Commissioner Shahare,” the statement read.

[A_Gupta]

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/65514

Indian foreign secretary Jaishankar arrived in Maldives Monday afternoon on a one-day official visit as a special envoy of the Indian prime minister. He was greeted on arrival at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by his Maldivian counterpart Ali Naseer Mohamed.

In a statement, the President’s Office said the president briefed the Indian foreign secretary on the latest developments in local politics. He sought India’s assistance in several areas, including domestic and international affairs, it added.

[A_Gupta]

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/econom ... 12921.html
Mauritius offers biofarming technology to India Possible areas of cooperation were identified at the first joint committee meeting between India and Mauritius for the cooperation in MSME sector.

[SSridhar]

Indian Ocean region a policy priority: Modi - The Hindu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited international companies to make in India and make for India under a drive launched by his government. He wanted the youth of the coastal areas to join the endeavour to make India a Blue Economy. Speaking at the International Fleet Review 2016 here in the evening, he talked about reigniting the manufacturing sector with the ‘Make in India’ campaign. Defence and shipbuilding were its focus areas.

Pointing out that India is a maritime nation, Mr. Modi underscored the importance of the Indian Ocean region to the country.

“The Indian Ocean region is one of my foremost policy priorities. Our approach is evident in our vision of ‘Sagar,’ which means “Ocean” and which stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. We would continue to pursue and promote our geo-political, strategic and economic interests in the seas, especially the Indian Ocean,” he said.

[A_Gupta]

INS Darshak completes survey in Mauritius
http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index ... ius/271890

Indian Naval Ship Darshak completed hydrographic survey in Mauritius.

A ceremonial fair-sheet depicting hydrographic surveys undertaken by Darshak was presented to Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius, on Tuesday by Abhay Thakur, high commissioner, accompanied by captain Peush Pawsey Commanding Officer, INS Darshak.

INS Darshak was deployed for a joint hydrographic survey from December 3 to January 3 with the objective of preparing and publishing two new charts of Mauritian waters as per enhanced charting scheme agreed between India and Mauritius.

The resultant products will be a significant step towards enhancing the level of navigational safety for merchant ships visiting Mauritius as they will replace vintage 19th century data around the island of Mauritius.

[SSridhar]

Till the next port of call - Alexandre Ziegler, The Hindu

It is rare for an ambassador of a foreign country to write an article when a naval mission of that country docks at a port of another country.

Mission Jeanne d’Arc, made up of the amphibious assault ship/landing platform dock (LPD), Mistral, and the frigate, Courbet, called at the Mumbai port between March 29 and April 3, having set sail from the French military base in Djibouti before heading for Vietnam. It is for the third consecutive year that France has deployed this important mission in the Indian Ocean, the China Seas and the Pacific region.

On each occasion, France has chosen to call at an Indian port: Visakhapatnam in 2015 and Kochi in 2016. At the time, it had just carried out an evacuation operation in Yemen in coordination with the Indian Navy, as part of providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), for which our LPDs are among the best in the world, given their cargo capacities and deployment capabilities.

These port calls always give rise to enriching interactions between navies. The 2017 edition was no exception, with numerous reciprocal visits and exercises carried out with our officer cadets. I was able to observe this first-hand alongside Rear Admiral Didier Piaton, French Joint Forces Commander in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN). But over the past two years, these calls have acquired a special dimension; they reflect and support the swift development of cooperation between our two countries.

Growing cooperation

Along with combating terrorism, maritime security has become a priority of our defence and security cooperation.

In fact, it greatly contributes to this cooperation given the threat of maritime terrorism. France has not forgotten the numerous victims the 2008 Mumbai attacks claimed, two of whom were our nationals.

Several concrete examples illustrate this unprecedented dynamic pace: in 2015, our carrier strike group (CSG) with the aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, at its core, docked at Goa as part of our bilateral exercise, “Varuna”. On that occasion, the Indian Navy — one of the few to also possess an aircraft carrier — could train on the naval version of the Rafale, which our CSG forces are equipped with. At the end of this month, the next edition of the “Varuna” exercise will be held, this time off the French coast. Once again, significant assets will be mobilised. In the meantime, India and France have held two high-level bilateral dialogues on maritime security in the Indian Ocean and signed their first White Shipping Agreement on January 18, 2017; the latter’s operationalisation will be a significant step towards more ambitious exchanges and complex cooperation.

We will not rest on our laurels. There are several reasons for this. France has significant interests in the Indian Ocean due to its overseas territory, Reunion Island, which is home to over a million French citizens; its 2.8 million square kilometres of exclusive economic zone (i.e. more than 10% of the Indian Ocean’s surface), and the volume of sea traffic in this zone. Due to this, we have significant means in the Indian Ocean, whether deployed permanently or depending on requirement. India is France’s top strategic partner in Asia and our intention is to work towards making this relation fructify further alongside our other partners in the region such as Australia, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. We share, in particular, the same values of preserving the freedom of navigation and respecting the international law of the sea.

Therefore, it is both natural and necessary that France and India do more together in the Indian Ocean to serve our shared interests of security. I am convinced that over the next few years, this cooperation will become one of the pillars of the strategic partnership between our two countries. We are ready to take up this challenge.

Alexandre Ziegler is the Ambassador of France to India

[ricky_v]

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/artic ... l-security

This week the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to force the U.K., which colonized the islands during the Napoleonic wars and now controls them as a British Indian Ocean Territory, to return them to Mauritius, which achieved independence from Britain in the mid-1960s.
The nonbinding vote affirmed a ruling by the International Court of Justice earlier this year holding that “the process of decolonization of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence” and that “the United Kingdom is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible.”

As with so many UN votes, it’s purely symbolic, and the U.K. has no intention of gifting the archipelago to Mauritius, an island nation roughly 1,400 miles to the southwest. But the crushing vote of 116 to 6 certainly gives momentum to the movement against the U.K. In addition to Britain, the nations voting against the measure were the U.S., Hungary, Israel, Australia and the Maldives, a rival Indian Ocean nation. Perhaps the biggest blow: Most of the U.K.’s key allies, including France and Germany, abstained.

There are prominent supporters of Mauritius’s claim in Britain as well: Jeremy Corbyn, who will be the next prime minister if Britons prove as misguided as the Americans who elected Donald Trump,

But it was the creation of the Diego Garcia base – what the U.S. Navy calls its “unsinkable aircraft carrier” – that made the 17-mile-square island one of the most important military assets in the world.

In the 1991 Gulf War, B-52 bombers took advantage of the site’s very long airstrips to drop bombs on Iraqi troops 3,000 miles away. That role has expanded greatly during the endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s also the launch point for counterterrorism missions on the Horn of Africa and anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

A few thousand U.S. and U.K. troops and civilians operate not just the port and air fields there but also high-tech surveillance equipment including one of the Pentagon’s three Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance Systems, which can see objects the size of a basketball 25,000 miles away. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague James Stavridis, a retired four-star admiral who led NATO's alliance globally, told me: "After many trips to Diego Garcia over decades going back to 1978, I have personally seen the absolute criticality of this crucial base. We have literally used it in every forward military operation in Africa and Southwest Asia for 40 years, and are relying on it again now to support our presence in the Gulf as we work to deter Iran."

Losing the base at Diego Garcia would be a tremendous blow to U.S. and global security, and a win for terrorists, drug smugglers and pirates. It would also be a boon to China’s economic offensive, and perhaps its military ambitions as well: Just imagine Mauritius leasing the base to the People’s Liberation Navy.

[Vips]

DNA analysis of Rakhigarhi remains challenges Aryan invasion theory.

A newly published archaeological study based on DNA analysis of skeletal remains at the Rakhigarhi site in Haryana has claimed that inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) were a distinct indigenous people and challenges the theory of an "Aryan invasion" ending Harrapan culture.

The study says IVC people were a south Asian group of indigenous people whose continuity of existence is traced back to before 7000 BC. The study, which is based on the genome sample obtained from one individual whose skeleton was extracted, suggests no noticeable migration of people and claims to have dismantled the Aryan theory.

"This breakthrough research completely sets aside the Aryan migration-invasion theory. The skeleton remains found in the upper part of the Citadel area of Mohenjo Daro belonged to those who died due to floods and were not massacred by Aryans as hypothesised by Sir Mortimer Wheeler. The Aryan invasion theory is based on very flimsy grounds," said Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of Deccan College, and one of the authors of the study. The team of 28 researchers was led by Vasant Shinde of Deccan College of Pune and included Vageesh Narasimhan and David Reich of Harvard Medical School and Niraj Rai of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences among others.

The findings also lay bare the noteworthy progress the Indian culture had already made at the time, putting it on a par with the 2000 BC Mesopotamian civilisation.

Among its key findings, the study suggests that farming was indigenous to India, contradicting an earlier belief that it was brought to the region through migrations from Iran, and, most significantly, that Harappan genes are present in varying quantities in all south Asians.

The study argues that the DNA analysis shows that the people at Rakhigarhi, and the individual whose skeleton was examined, are from a population that is the largest source of ancestry for south Asians. "The Iranian-related ancestry in IVC derives from a lineage leading to early Iranian farmers, herders, and hunter gatherers before their ancestors separated, contradicting the hypothesis that the shared ancestry between early Iranians and south Asians reflects a large-scale spread of western Iranian farmers east," the study says, arguing that this contradicts significant migrations during the IVC period.

The study explains the spread of Indo-European languages to likely later migrations. "...a natural route for Indo-European languages to have spread into south Asia is from eastern Europe via central Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE, a chain of transmission that did occur as has been documented in detail with ancient DNA. The fact that Steppe pastoralist ancestry in south Asia matches that in Bronze Age eastern Europe provides additional evidence for this theory, as it elegantly explains the shared distinctive features of Balto-Slavic and Indo-Iranian languages." The mature IVC was spread over northwest India between 2600-1900 BCE.

Speaking to TOI, Dr Niraj Rai of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences, who conducted the genetic research on the Rakhigarhi skeletons, defended the extrapolation of data on the basis of one genome sample.

"One sample means a billion people. That is the power of genetics. We have conclusive data and evidence to prove that there was no Aryan invasion. Also, there is conclusive evidence that shows farming was indigenous to India," he said. Rai also said that excavations found evidence that indigenous people migrated from the north to south India between 1800 BC and 1600 BC, likely following the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation by factors like drying up of the Saraswati basin.

This was nearly 100 years before Arabians and central Asian Steppe population arrived in India. "Since the first batch of migration to the south took place before the arrival of the Steppe population, the population in north India had a greater affinity to the Steppe people than the ones who migrated to the south," he said.

The 28-member team of experts who collaborated on the study also said hunter-gatherers in south Asia had an independent origin and were authors of the settled way of life in this part of the world.

[chola]

^^^ We need some systematic way of spreading this truth across Pakiland. It will destroy their TFTA psyche that is predicated on this falsehood they inherited camel herder genes from Central Asia and the Middle East.

[ArjunPandit]

^^^ We need some systematic way of spreading this truth across Pakiland. It will destroy their TFTA psyche that is predicated on this falsehood they inherited camel herder genes from Central Asia and the Middle East.

Not gonna happen as long as paki and islam as entities exist in current forms...

[vishvak]

that indigenous people migrated from the north to south India between 1800 BC and 1600 BC

Just to note, there wasn't any 'invasion' prior to dark age mediaeval barbarism. The entire AIT is to hide what was done under some garb or other - and to pass off future such plans as not barbaric.

[Vips]

NewsX coverage on the same. The silence by the general media on this discovery is surprising.

[Vips]

India first Civilisation, Analysis by Vasant Shinde at Deccan College, Pune.

[Vips]

Ancient graffiti found in Keezhadi, Madurai; Aryan invasion falling apart.India's histroy re-written.

[ricky_v]

https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-battle- ... -security/

Throughout the last century, China was primarily a land-based power. But in its 2015 white paper on military strategy, Beijing explicitly set out its goal of becoming “a maritime power” before beginning to modernise and expand the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The expansion of the PLAN from a coastguard into a so-called blue-water navy, which is capable of operating globally and across the deep waters of open oceans, laid the foundation for China to extend its overall presence in the Indo-Pacific.

For India, the Indian Ocean is a key strategic and economic theatre, and the centre of its diplomatic, military, and regional engagements. New Delhi considers itself as the regional “net security provider”, a status which is threatened by China’s growing presence in its neighbourhood. For Europe, the Indian Ocean is a primary gateway to the prosperous markets of the Indo-Pacific: Europe exports over 35 per cent of its goods to Asia and four of its top ten trading partners are in the region. As such, Europe is heavily dependent on the security of the sea lines of communication through the Indian Ocean. China’s growing naval presence in the region ultimately provides it with so-called anti-access or area-denial capabilities to prevent or limit the freedom of other actors operating within the area. These would allow Beijing to control the traffic in parts of the Indian Ocean, potentially affecting European sea lines of communication, and constraining India’s ability to operate in the area, therefore limiting its influence and security.

In its 2021 “EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific”, the European Council highlighted the “intense geopolitical competition” in the Indo-Pacific and the potential negative repercussions on “trade and supply chains”. The strategy announced a policy of “partnership and cooperation”, putting engagement with partners in the region at the forefront of its approach. The EU has declared cooperation with India, in particular, as a priority in its engagement with the Indo-Pacific. In this context, this paper proposes that the EU and India jointly establish a regional maritime capacity building programme for the smaller island and coastal states in the Indian Ocean, modelled on the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) exercise initiated by the United States.

Such a programme would make it possible to partially meet the needs of some of the smaller countries in the Indian Ocean in terms of maritime security. In doing so, it would bring together regional players around the EU and India and therefore increase, at low cost, Europe’s and India’s visibility and ability to ensure security in the Indo-Pacific. The programme would serve as one element in a multifaced approach to respond effectively to China’s assertiveness in the Indian Ocean.

This paper analyses China’s main axes and modes of penetration in the Indian Ocean, and the political fragmentation of the region and weak capacity of the island and coastal states that facilitate this. It then proposes a joint EU-India Indian Ocean Cooperation and Training (IOCAT) maritime capacity building programme for island and coastal states that would strengthen maritime security in the Indian Ocean.

The 1998 white paper states that China “does not station any troops or set up any military bases in any foreign country”. In striking contrast, the most recent white paper, made public in 2019, emphasises the need to safeguard “China’s maritime rights and interests” and “overseas interests”, and openly mentions the existence of a PLAN base in Djibouti. The defence white papers published between these two documents reveal the development of China’s naval warfare capabilities. The defence white paper of 2000, which states that the navy has “weapons such as surface, submarine, naval aviation, coastal defense and marine corps, as well as other specialized units”, provided the first indication that China had acquired the capability for offshore defensive operations. The 2002 defence white paper notes that China not only has nuclear-powered submarines, but also nuclear counterattack capabilities. The next two white papers, published in 2004 and 2006, insist on strengthening naval capabilities in terms of armament and equipment, as well as the “gradual extension of the strategy for offshore defensive operations”. Both emphasise capacity building in integrated maritime operations.

China’s military expansion has gone hand in hand with its economic development. The 2008 defence white paper gave the navy new and unprecedented prominence. Nearly four pages are devoted to the corps, in contrast to the restrained one or two paragraphs in earlier documents. The context of this white paper is important: by 2007, China had overtaken the US as the world’s top exporter. For China and for the West, 2008 was a pivotal year. It saw the organisation of the Beijing Olympics – a political triumph for the Chinese authorities – but Chinese performances were not limited to the stadium. It was also the year of the most consequential financial crisis since 1929, surpassed only in 2020 by the economic consequences of the covid-19 pandemic. Chinese leaders, among others, interpreted the crisis as a sign of a declining West and an opportunity to be seized, but also the beginning of a period of tough competition. The 2008 white paper argued that “struggles for strategic resources, strategic locations, and strategic dominance have intensified”, and further suggested that the PLAN should develop “capabilities to conduct cooperation in distant waters”. It was also in 2008 that China sent a naval contingent on an anti-piracy mission to the Gulf of Aden for the first time.

Subsequent defence white papers all emphasised this need to operate further from China’s own shores in order to protect its interests abroad. The 2010 defence white paper insisted in particular on the development of capabilities for conducting operations in distant waters and the construction of land infrastructure and surface logistics platforms allowing the PLAN to operate far from its domestic bases. The 2013 document coincided with the launch of China’s first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, which marked a new phase for the PLAN. The 2015 white paper reiterated the PLA’s mission “to safeguard the security of overseas Chinese interests” and the need for the PLAN to “gradually shift from defending offshore waters” to combining the defence of offshore waters with “high seas protection”. This clearly showed China’s intention to “seize the strategic initiative in military competition”. Just a few months later, China began an ambitious programme to modernise its armed forces, investing heavily to upgrade military equipment and ships, with a particular focus on commissioning more nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers.

According to Joshua T White, former senior advisor and director of south Asian affairs in the US National Security Council, the PLAN has five objectives in the Indian Ocean:

1) to conduct non-combat activities focused on protecting Chinese citizens and investments and enhancing China’s soft power;

2) to undertake counterterrorism activities, unilaterally or with partners;

3) to gather intelligence in support of operational requirements and against key adversaries;

4) to support efforts aimed at coercive diplomacy towards the small countries of the region; and

5) to enable effective operations in a conflict environment. Among other things, these capabilities therefore prepare China to be able to deter, mitigate, or end a trade ban.

Beijing has also engaged in active diplomacy towards the small island states of the region. Geographically, four of these island states play a central role in the protection of the open sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean: Sri Lanka and the Maldives are located on the most direct route between China and the Middle East, while Mauritius and the Seychelles are located on the Asia-Africa maritime routes. They are also therefore located on the key maritime route between Europe and Asia.

Engaging with these four island states also has political value for China in the context of its competition with the US and India. China has been trying for decades to establish facilities near India, which would undoubtedly increase New Delhi’s vulnerability. For example, since 1986 Beijing has attempted to acquire, directly or indirectly, one of the islands of the Maldives archipelago.


China is the only country with an embassy on each of the six islands in the Indian Ocean. Beijing is also a dialogue partner in regional and sub-regional organisations that include the island states: the Indian Ocean Rim Association – of which Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Mauritius, and the Seychelles are all members – and the Indian Ocean Commission, whose member states all border the Mozambique Channel and include Mauritius and the Seychelles. China’s participation in these organisations not only helps it to foster relations with these states, it also provides it with recognition as a legitimate regional actor.


In November 2022, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) – an organisation associated with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs – held the first meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation, which brought together some 19 states, not including India or any EU states. According to CIDCA, the forum aims to “pool wisdom and resources” and allow China to “strengthen cooperation with countries in the Indian Ocean region to grow the blue economy and advance the implementation of the GDI [Global Development Initiative] in the region” and “constantly expand the converging interests” between China and the countries in the Indian Ocean.

China’s presence in the Indian Ocean is not limited to military exercises. China has become a master of using grey zone strategies in the South China Sea as well as in the Indian Ocean. Grey zone strategies refer to the use of ambiguous tactics by a state to achieve its strategic objectives without engaging in overt military conflict. For example, China has used illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to serve its broader strategic interests. With about 3,000 ships, China has built the world’s largest deep-water fishing fleet which allows it to operate in international waters and to encroach on other countries’ territorial waters. In 2021, the Indian Navy reported 392 incidents of IUU fishing in the northern Indian Ocean. All the coastal states in the Indian Ocean, including the island states as well as supposed partners in the area such as South Africa, Iran, and Pakistan, complain about China’s IUU fishing practices, which have significant economic and ecological consequences for the fisheries-dependent littoral states and their food security.[1] At the same time, fishing vessels are often used to smuggle people, drugs, and weapons and to conduct spy missions and gather intelligence, which is particularly concerning given the widespread presence of China’s fishing fleet.

The African coast of the Indian Ocean has thus become the stake of renewed struggles for influence without the states of the region having the means, military or otherwise, to defend their maritime sovereignty.

The African coast of the Indian Ocean remains almost entirely dependent on the outside world for its own maritime security. African naval forces were notably absent from the three naval operations put in place to ensure maritime security off the Horn of Africa: the EU’s EUNAVFOR Atalanta, NATO’s Ocean SHIELD, and the multinational Combined Maritime Task Force (CTF 151). The Seychelles was the only African country to contribute to CTF 151. South Africa, Mozambique, and Tanzania launched the only all-African anti-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean, Operation Copper, in 2011 in the Mozambique Channel, but South Africa has carried out the operation alone despite attempts to pool it. They have since regularly extended it, except for in 2012.


For example, the United Arab Emirates funded the MASE Program to promote maritime security in the eastern and southern Africa and Indian Ocean region, which ran from 2012 to 2020. Its general objective was to strengthen maritime security in the region and to create an environment conducive to economic development. More specifically, it aimed to strengthen the capacity of states and organisations in the region to implement the regional strategy and action plan against piracy and for maritime security. It involved various development initiatives, from vocational training to national and regional capacities in legal matters, intelligence, and regional coordination. Another example is the Critical Maritime Routes in the Indian Ocean (CRIMARIO) programme. Initiated and funded by the EU, it aimed to enhance maritime safety and security in the wider Indian Ocean region by supporting coastal nations to improve maritime situational awareness through information sharing networks and web-based incident management, as well as inter-agency workshops, training, and capacity building. When the CRIMARIO I programme ended in December 2019, the EU extended the project’s geographical reach to interconnect the Indo-Pacific under CRIMARIO II, which runs from 2020 until 2025.


India is the only regional power striving both to secure the area and to develop the capacities of the less endowed coastal and island states. In 2021, for example, it offered loans to Mauritius to purchase defence-related equipment and in 2022 it gifted a $20m floating dock to the Sri Lankan navy. Furthermore, the largest vessels in the two countries’ navies are Indian-built offshore patrol vessels and India has built an airstrip and jetty on the Mauritian island of Agaléga for surveillance purposes. India has also launched a coastal surveillance radar project in the Seychelles and upgraded the jetty and airstrip on Assumption Island for surveillance purposes. The ships and aircraft of its navy regularly carry out joint surveillance, patrols, and hydrographic surveys of the EEZs of Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the Maldives. It also conducts joint patrols with Indonesia and since 2005 has multiplied joint naval exercises with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as, since October 2022, with the Mozambican and Tanzanian navies.

A maritime capacity building programme for island and coastal states in the Indian Ocean, organised on the scale of the entire region within the framework of the EU’s cooperation with India and modelled on the SEACAT programme, would constitute a useful contribution to these goals. Such a model, envisaged by leading maritime experts in India, would not address the whole problem posed by China’s penetration into the Indian Ocean.[2] However, it would make it possible to limit the space in which China operates today, and partially respond to the coastal states’ difficulties in controlling their territorial waters and EEZs which are significantly larger than their landmass. It would also allow the EU and India to draw the coastal states away from China’s orbit and align them around an EU-India axis.


The EU and India – in dialogue with the coastal and island states of the Indian Ocean as well as EU member states – should therefore follow this example to establish an Indian Ocean Cooperation and Training (IOCAT) programme. Once established, the programme could be expanded to include other south Asian and EU member states, including Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, as well as France and Germany.

India, France, and Germany all participated in SEACAT 2022, organised in Singapore, and are therefore familiar with the exercise and able to implement it in the Indian Ocean. The programme would also facilitate interoperability between regional partners and the European and Indian navies. Furthermore, the EU’s role would make it possible to involve EU member states – which are still reluctant to participate in Coordinated Maritime Presences due to a lack of ships – more closely in the security of the region at a level compatible with their specific capacities and interests. While the EU claims to be developing its maritime cooperation with India, it has not yet officially defined this cooperation. The implementation of an IOCAT programme would therefore help deepen EU-Indian cooperation in the Indian Ocean.

[sanman]

[ricky_v]

https://www.ft.com/content/5ed52635-ea2 ... 8fc6fedb41

Australia and the UK have signed a defence and security treaty and announced £2.4bn in Australian investment in Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor facilities as the two nations tighten ties in the face of rising Chinese power.

The treaty, signed in Canberra on Thursday by Australian defence minister Richard Marles and his UK counterpart Grant Shapps, formalises consultation over national security matters between the two countries and makes it easier to operate together on joint exercises and maritime security.

Highlighting the boost to Britain’s biggest defence companies from Aukus, Australia will invest £2.4bn in expanding Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor facilities in the UK to supply submarines to be built by a BAE Systems joint venture.

Aukus is intended to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to the Pacific country, which is overhauling its navy in response to regional tensions.

Shapps said in an interview with the Financial Times that security in the Indo-Pacific was “pivotal” for the UK.

Hall said that it would pave the way for British submarines to “rotate” through Australian bases, but that “all eyes are still focused on whether or not the two can produce that elusive nuclear-powered submarine for Australia, where and how they’ll do it, and how soon they’ll deliver”.