Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal carried a long and interesting article by Gordon Fairclough on China's efforts to develop a navy to protect its sea transport routes, and to isolate Taiwan if war comes: China's Growing Navy (Ben Muse, July 16).
India is also taking steps to protect its sea lanes. This article Manu Pubby deals with India's Indian Ocean interests: India activates first listening post on foreign soil: radars in Madagascar. (The Indian Express, July 17):
India has activated its first listening post on foreign soil that will keep an eye on ship movements in the Indian Ocean. A key monitoring station in northern Madagascar... was quietly made operational earlier this month as part of Indian Navy’s strategy to protect the country’s sea lanes of commerce.
The monitoring station... will link up with similar naval facilities in Kochi and Mumbai to gather intelligence on foreign navies operating in the region. “A naval asset with limited anchoring facilities has been activated. It will facilitate possible manoeuvres by the navy in the region,” a ministry official said.
While the station will also monitor piracy and terrorist activities, its primary aim is to counter the growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean Region. The station is India’s first in southern Indian Ocean that is gaining importance due to increasing oil traffic across the Cape of Good Hope and the Mozambique Channel route preferred by super tankers....
India is looking at developing another monitoring facility at an atoll it has leased from Mauritius in the near future....
“With berthing rights in Oman and monitoring stations in Madagascar, Mauritius, Kochi and Mumbai, the navy will effectively box in the region to protect sea lanes right from Mozambique and the Cape of Good Hope to the Gulf of Oman,” an official said.
The navy has already made its presence felt along the African coast with regular warships deployments to monitor piracy and terrorist movements. India also inked an agreement with Mozambique last year to mount periodical maritime patrolling off its vast coast. In 2003, the Indian navy provided seaward protection for the African Union summit at Mozambique.
India has only recently announced plans to add submarines and surface ships: Indian navy to acquire 6 new submarines, 33 ships (AP via International Herald Tribune, June 30, 2007). This article suggests that India sees its security interests extending beyond the Indian Ocean:
"Our interest is not restricted to the Indian Ocean," Adm. Sureesh Mehta told reporters in the eastern city of Calcutta. He did not elaborate, but said "we need a vibrant navy" to safeguard India's economic interests....
India has been seeking to bolster its rise as an economic power by reshaping its armed forces into a modern military capable of projecting power well beyond its shores.
Here's the Indian Navy website: Indian Navy. Wikipedia has an overview: Indian Navy Thomas Barrett of the US Naval War College reported on strategic thinking within the Indian navy in 2001, and offered some advice: India's 12 Steps to a World Class Navy.
map from Defense Industry Daily.
This article on India's naval buildup is a very good find.
While I do see that India needs to ensure that its energy supplies arrive safely like China does, I'm not so sure that it needs to keep the sea lanes open for exporting manufactures.
Posted by: Emmanuel | July 18, 2007 at 12:53 PM