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Indo-US Naval Cooperation

  Admiral Madhvendra Singh, Indian Navy Chief, visited the United States in September 2002 and held talks with several US government and military officials on global and regional security issues. The visit was aimed at consolidating the broader Indo-US bilateral relationship. Close on the heels of the visit, the US and Indian Navy engaged in Malabar IV, a joint naval exercise, from 29 September 2002 to 3 October 2002.

  Post- Cold War, the US and the Indian Navy have had an intense interface on maritime matters and exhibited their desire to further strengthen bilateral naval cooperation. Of particular interest are the Malabar series of joint naval exercises. The two navies held three such exercises in 1992, 1995 and 1996. The exercises were basic in nature in the beginning and progressively improved in content and complexity. Importantly, these exercises enhanced understanding among their naval forces and paved the way for building a framework for joint maritime operations such as anti-piracy, safety of sea-lanes and anti drug and gun running patrols. But these were suspended in the wake of the 1998 Indian nuclear tests.

  However, common security concerns such as terrorism, piracy at sea and safety of sea lines of communications in the Indian Ocean provided the impetus to bring the two navies together to cooperate closely. As a result, in May 2002, Indian and US naval ships engaged in joint escort duties in Malacca Strait waters that are teeming with both pirates and terrorists. Indian naval ship Sharda assumed responsibility from USS Cowpens to escort American commercial vessels carrying ‘high value’ goods transiting through the Straits. 

  During Malabar IV, the US Navy fielded some 750 personnel and state of the art warships that included Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Chancelloreville, the Spruance class destroyer USS Paul F Foster and a P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The Indian naval participation included the latest INS Delhi, INS Gomati, a Godavari class frigate, a SSK class submarine INS Shankul and tanker INS Aditya .

  Later, in 2002, the two navies are scheduled to hold a Search and Rescue (SAR) exercise that would further enhance bilateral naval cooperation. The SAR exercises were conceived in 2001 during the Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Command, Admiral Dennis C Blair's visit to Mumbai. Soon after, USS Hewitt, a US navy ship while transiting through the Arabian Sea sought Indian help for ‘medical casualty’ evacuation of a sailor who could not be treated on board the ship. According to Admiral Blair, the life-saving exercise was the beginning of a new chapter in the bilateral naval cooperation.

  As part of its overall engagement program, the US holds more than a hundred exercises every year with Asian countries. These are aimed at building friendship and maintaining interoperability. The US Seventh Fleet area of responsibility stretches from the International Date Line to the east coast of Africa, and from the Kurile Islands in the north to the Antarctica in the south. The US has security treaties with six nations in the area and military-to-military contacts with more than two-dozen others. 

  In May 2002, the US had agreed to consider the Indian request to extend joint naval patrols from Malacca to Hormuz as part of Indo-US naval cooperation. It is now learnt that the US turned down the Indian proposal due to ‘operational jurisdiction’ constraints. The Persian Gulf falls under the US Central Command (CENTCOM) while India is covered by the US Pacific Command (PACOM). The Straits of Hormuz is of vital importance to sea-lane security. About half the world’s traded oil passes through this strait. The recent terrorist attack off Yemen on the French oil tanker Limburg is indeed a chilling reminder of the vulnerability of sea-lanes to asymmetric threats. 

  Post September 11, international initiatives have shown that combating terrorism requires a coordinated approach. The very fact that navies from East Asia and Europe were deployed in the Arabian Sea to intercept vessels suspected of carrying terrorists is a pointer towards the growing relevance and importance of multinational naval cooperation. Common maritime security concerns like terrorism are not bound by geographical constraints and can be best challenged by naval cooperation. It is in this context that Indo-US naval cooperation will be relevant to enhance understanding between the two navies.