India to provide another helicopter to Maldives

Photos courtesy Ministry of Defence

In his first visit to Maldives after the regime change in the island nation earlier this year, Defence Minister AK Antony on Sunday assured India’s help in countering the menace of piracy in the maritime region around the country and also agreed to give another Advanced Light Helicopter to it. 

Antony’s visit to the country has come at a time when the Chinese establishment has welcomed the new government in Maldives, located south of Lakshadweep Islands. A strong foothold for China in the country’s backyard does not augur well for India strategically.

Antony met his Maldivian counterpart and Col (Retd) Mohamed Nazim in Male and the two countries decided to ‘maintain close cooperation in unitedly fighting against challenges of terrorists and non- state actors’. Indian Naval warships and one Dornier aircraft have been conducting regular anti-piracy patrolling for Maldives in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). India also agreed that the tenure of ALH Dhruv given to Maldives in 2010 will be increased for another two years. The helicopter has already been had been upgraded with night flying capabilities during the recent overhaul at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Bangalore. 

Moreover a team of Qualified Flying Instructors will now be deputed to train Maldivian Air Wing personnel. In addition, India will also provide simulator training to Maldivian helicopter pilots at HAL, Bangalore. “To a request from Maldives for an additional ALH for deployment in the Northern Province for Medical evacuation purposes, the Defence Minister assured him that he would try to fulfill this request at the earliest,” spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said from Male.

Moreover, on a request from the Male’, India has decided to position an Indian Navy Afloat Support Team at Maldives for a period of one year to help in smooth functioning and operations of the latter’s fleet and help in training their personnel for future maintenance operations.

Antony was accompanied by a high-level defence delegation including Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma, Western Naval Command Chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Director General Military Training Lt Gen SP Tanwar and DG AFMS Air Marshal DP Joshi.

Piracy down from 38 % in 2008 to 11 % in 2011: Navy Chief

This is what Admiral Nirmal Verma had to say about piracy during his last press conference as  Navy Chief 

"Getting back to the challenges of the changing operating environment; with respect to piracy, we have to a significant extent, arrested this plague.  We have had at least one ship continuously deployed, off the Gulf of Aden, since October 2008.  Over 2100 merchantmen have been escorted by Indian Navy ships and 40 piracy attempts have been averted. Along with the sustained efforts of various navies and the shipping community, the success rate of piracy has dropped from 38% in 2008 to approx 11% till 2011 and even further in 2012.   It may surprise some to know that our anti-piracy operations have thus far been coordinated tri-laterally with the Chinese and Japanese and in the near future this initiative could include the South Korean navy. Such are the opportunities in the maritime environment.

  

In 2009-10 the scourge of piracy had spread to the East Arabian Sea at times beyond 1000 nautical miles from the Horn of Africa and closer to our waters. The Indian Navy has had a somewhat different and I dare say rather proactive approach towards combating piracy.  Proactive and effective action by Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships and aircraft resulted in the neutralization of all pirate ships operating in the region. I am happy to state that over the past year, there has not been a single incident of piracy within 300 nautical miles of our island territories on the West coast. The maritime environment is complex and  this proactive action has had some unintended consequences. As a result of the relative safety of our waters from piracy, there has consequently been a discernible shift in the International Shipping Lines (ISLs).  International shipping is now passing closer to the Indian coast due to the protection provided by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. This has resulted in an unfortunate incident of mistaken identity which resulted in the loss of innocent lives of our fishermen, such are the dangers and challenges which require to be addressed." 

India raps Italian Envoy for Murder on High Seas

New Delhi, Feb 16: Terming the killing of two innocent fishermen by Italian merchant vessel as “unfortunate”, India on Thursday summoned the Italian envoy to lodge its protest against the incident.

Shocked Indian authorities feel the merchant vessel did not follow the Best Management Practices for the action to be taken in the face of an imminent pirates attack.

“The first step according to the international guidelines is to communicate. But the UK MTO (Maritime Trade Operations), the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard – no body received any communication from the cargo ship,” an official said.

The incident did not happen in Indian territorial waters (that extends up to 12 nautical miles from coastline) but in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ- that is up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline) off Kochi on Wednesday evening.

The Indian authorities are also questioning the Italian ship’s claim that the fishermen died in retaliatory fire. “First of all whenever there is piracy attempt after alerting the emergency communication room the ship is supposed to first deter by water jets, firing in air then injuring them if required and not killing them.”

“In this incident the merchant vessel seems to be relatively new ships so it can easily do a 14-15 nautical miles speed to evade the pirates. Moreover the fishermen’s boat was idling when the Italian tanker was passing by,” the official explained.

It was only after the fishing boat entered the harbor did the death of the two fishermen came to light. The Coast Guard sent a two boats and a Dornier aircraft to pursue the Italian ship Enrica Lexie and asked it to come to anchorage off Kochi for detailed investigation.

Reacting on the issue, Defence Minister AK Antony said: “This is a serious matter. But at the same time it very unfortunate incident. Kerala Police and Indian Coast Guard are investigating and meeting people (kith and kin of the fishermen). Let the law take its own course.”

Ministry of External Affairs also summoned Italian Ambassador Giacomo Safelic di Montefort. MEA’s Secretary (west) M Ganapathi asked the Ambassador to ensure that the Merchant Vessel’s Captain cooperates with the Indian officials investigating the incident.

The Italian Embassy in a statement issued on Thursday maintained that its ship was “attacked” in international waters.

"Italian navy personnel on board following international protocols after repeated warnings and after ascertaining from binoculars that the pirates were armed gradually fired some warning shots and the pirates withdrew.

"Later, the master of the Italian ship was contacted by the Indian coast guards and requested to direct towards the Kochi harbour to offer information on the pirate attack. The master agreed and the ship is now in Kochi harbour," the embassy statement said.

The Embassy added that it has been in touch with Indian authorities “to clarify all aspects of the incident”.