India plays globo cop off Somali coast as Western navies play safe

India’s historical links with eastern Africa coupled with the sub continent’s thirst for Africa’s resources and the need to safeguard oil imports through the Gulf of Aden have forced her to act tough on Somali pirates, writes policy analyst PATRICK MUTAHI

Uranium for her reactors

The country is also searching for secure, long-term uranium supplies to feed its nuclear reactors, as well as other strategic minerals, meaning that South Africa is emerging as a key partner.

The Asian giant is involved in a tripartite alliance with Brazil and South Africa under the IBSA Dialogue Forum. This is an effective co-operative approach to build a bridge between Asia and Africa.

The alliance was set when the leaders of three rising giants, India’s Atal  Bihari  Vajpayee, Brazil’s Lula Da Silva, and South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki introduced a new approach to south-south cooperation at the 2003 UN General Assembly, resulting in a trilateral India-Brazil-South Africa agreement.

IBSA has amplified its presence through numerous joint ventures. More importantly, India views the IBSA Free-Trade Agreement with Brazil and South Africa as a “distinct possibility” of enhancing trade relationship with these countries.

In addition, the defence ministers of the troika agreed in Pretoria on February 1, 2004, to hold joint military exercises and train their personnel.
India is also using the forum to enhance its maritime cooperation in order to boost regional security. Notably, both Delhi and Pretoria have long coastlines and maritime interests.

India has a 2.2 million square kilometres of exclusive economic zone (EEZ), while South Africa’s is half as large at a million square kilometres.

Around 90 per cent of the exports of both countries pass through the sea. In addition, South Africa has six well-developed ports and a sound maritime infrastructure, with good facilities for ship repair and potential to get involved in shipbuilding.

Due to this strategic interest, New Delhi in March 2006 signed an agreement with Pretoria to improve cooperation in merchant shipping and other related activities. The agreement provides for facilitating Indian companies to establish joint ventures in maritime transportation, and ship building/repairs. Furthermore, the pact will also facilitate the exchange of information for accelerating the flow of commercial goods at sea and at port and encourage the strengthening of cooperation between merchant fleets.

However, piracy off the coast of Somalia has caused significant concerns in India. Indians comprise one-sixth of the world’s maritime workers; some 30 Indian-owned ships pass through the Gulf of Aden, laden with oil and other merchandise worth $100 billion, every month.

Hence the emerging super power has to protect its citizens and economic interests.

The Indian Navy has responded to these security concerns by deploying the frigate INS Tabar in the Gulf of Aden in October. Within a month of its deployment, the Tabar had prevented attempts by pirates to board two cargo ships.

As of November 11, the frigate had escorted 35 ships safely through the pirate-infested region.

Destroyed Thai fishing boat

There were also reports of India deploying the destroyer INS Mysore to augment the frigate INS Tabar in anti-piracy operations. In an unprecedented move, on November 21, India was granted permission to enter Somalia territorial waters to intercept suspected pirate vessels.