Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prepares for an Indian Ocean Tour

sorcerer

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India Gears Up to Tackle China in Its Backyard

With Narendra Modi's tour of three Indian Ocean states this week, New Delhi will renew its commitment to the region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three-nation trip this week which will take him to the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka – three key Indian Ocean island nations.
There were suggestions that the prime minister will be visiting Maldives as well but it was dropped from the itinerary after the arrest and incarceration of the country's first democratically elected president and current opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed in an expression of India's disapproval of these moves. Indian Prime Minister is likely to step up his nation's military and civilian assistance to the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka during his visit in an effort to balance China's growing imprint in the region, which has built highways, power plants, and seaports in these small island nations. India envisages its role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region and towards that end it is providing patrol ships, surveillance radars and ocean mapping for the island states.

The visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the nation's maritime neighbors is reflective of India's desire to shore up its profile in the Indian Ocean region, a region long considered India's backyard but where New Delhi's influence has been eroding slowly but steadily. China has extended a quiet challenge to India's preeminence in South Asia through diplomatic and aid efforts directed at the small island nations dotting the Indian Ocean. While China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations fight over specks of islands and reefs in East and South China Sea, mainly because of undersea resources, islands in the Indian Ocean are emerging as a new focus for struggle between China and India.

China has also been busy forging special ties with island nations on India's periphery including Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius. China's attempt to gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean came into view in 2012 when reports emerged of an offer from Seychelles – a strategically located island nation in the Indian Ocean – to China for a base to provide relief and resupply facilities to the People's Liberation Army Navy. Though promptly denied by Beijing, the offer underscored the changing balance of power in the region. India has traditionally been the main defense provider for Seychelles – providing armaments and training to its Peoples' Defense Forces, or SPDF. India extended a $50 million line of credit and $25 million grant to Seychelles in 2012 in an attempt to cement strategic ties. The Indian Navy has also been making regular forays into the island nation's surrounding waters.

During Modi's visit, the two states will be signing a pact on mapping of the waters around the archipelago and further cementing their defense ties. In Mauritius, the Indian Prime Minister will be the chief guest at Mauritius's National Day celebrations and will commission a 1300-tonne Indian-built patrol vessel, the Barracuda — India's first ever export warship. New Delhi plans to supply 13 more warships to Mauritius.

Modi's trip to Sri Lanka will be the first in 28 years by an Indian Prime Minister and it comes at a time when China's growing presence in Sri Lanka has suffered a setback with the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa and the victory of Maithripala Sirisena in the presidential elections earlier this year in January. The Sirisena government has made its desire public to correct Rajapaksa's tilt towards China and has already made some significant overtures towards India. The new President has visited India as his first trip abroad which resulted in a civil nuclear energy cooperation pact. The Sirisena government has also underlined that it would have a "different approach" than the previous Rajapaksa government which allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in Colombo in September 2014, raising heckles in New Delhi. In a move that risks diplomatic row with is largest trading partner, Sri Lanka has suspended a $1.5 billion Chinese luxury real estate project in Colombo, the biggest of several Chinese investments in Sri Lankan ports and infrastructure. Though the Sri Lankan government has suggested that the deal lacked transparency and did not meet environmental standards, India too had expressed its concerns about the project. During his visit, Modi will be addressing the Sri Lankan parliament and will be visiting several Sri Lankan cities, including Jaffna which was the de-facto capital of the LTTE till their defeat in 2009.

With the rise in the military capabilities of China and India, the two are increasingly rubbing against each other as China expands its presence in the Indian Ocean region and India makes its presence felt in East and Southeast Asia. Though Indian policymakers are now ready to acknowledge that both the South Asian and Indian Ocean regions are rapidly being shaped by the Chinese presence, the Modi government wants to push back by enhancing its diplomatic and defense presence in the regional states.

The great game of the 21st century is likely to be played out on the waters of the Indian Ocean. China has upped the ante with its ambitious $40 billion Maritime Silk Road project aimed at connecting China with communication lines in the Indian Ocean and the larger Asia-Pacific region. India is only now beginning to take this challenge seriously. The Modi government is gearing up to tackle the China challenge in India's backyard. It remains to be seen if it will be successful in this endeavor. Modi's trip this week will provide some important pointers.
India Gears Up to Tackle China in Its Backyard | The Diplomat
 

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India's Got a Plan For South China Sea Disputes (And China Won't Like It)
India's got a preferred solution for South China Sea disputes — and it's not a surprise.

In recent years, India has started to become increasingly more vocal about what it feels is the correct way for the five main territorial disputants in the South China Sea to resolve their differences. What's particularly interesting is that the rhetoric coming out of New Delhi seems to be growing more specific and pointed as time goes on. Early on Wednesday, the Manila Times reported that that Indian ambassador to the Philippines, Shri Lalduhthlana Ralte, said that India explicitly supported international law and arbitration in resolving these disputes. "Our view with that such kind of disputes [is that], the claimant countries should observe international law and norms that disputes are to be settled peacefully. We should allow ourselves to be subjected to international law," Ralte said, according to the report.

The ambassador's comments bookend a string of policy statements by New Delhi that mostly began in 2013. Back then, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking at the East Asia Summit, noted that "A stable maritime environment is essential to realize our collective regional aspirations." Keen to make his approval known for multilateral processes in Southeast Asia (which I recently expressed some skepticism about), Singh added: "We welcome the collective commitment by the concerned countries to abide by and implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to work towards the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of consensus. We also welcome the establishment of the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum for developing maritime norms that would reinforce existing international law relating to maritime security."

Those statements failed to draw much attention. Beijing probably raised its eyebrows at New Delhi's interest in the South China Sea, but there was little in the prime minister's statements that suggested a firm backing for a specific resolution mechanism. In early 2014, Shri Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) of India's Ministry of External Affairs, pushed the Indian position a bit further into the realm of clarity. "We advocate that the lines, the channels of trade and communication should be kept open and of course the sea, which, according to UN (United Nations) international law of the sea, is common to all the countries that use it. Definitely we are concerned," he told journalists at the annual ASEAN-India dialogue in New Delhi. "Our position has always been India stands for freedom of navigation on high seas. We would like to ensure that all countries in the region adhere to the international conventions on the law of the sea in this issue," he clarified.

Enter UNCLOS and "freedom of navigation" into India's South China Sea vocabulary. Wadhwa's rhetoric survived India's change of government in May 2014. When Narendra Modi came into office and eventually traveled to the United States, the United States and India, for the first time, included language on the South China Sea in their joint declaration. In October's declaration, after Modi's whirlwind tour of the United States, the South China Sea was an explicit point of focus. As I wrote then, "Under Modi, India is sticking to its guns in terms of repeatedly emphasizing its commitment to the principle of the freedom of navigation and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea." Just prior to that visit, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had visited Vietnam, signing a joint statement with his counterpart there including similar language. Additionally, after U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to India in January 2015, the U.S.-India joint declaration again included similar language.

Coming back to the Indian Ambassador to the Philippines' statement, we may finally catch a glimpse of India's ultimate position on the South China Sea issue: international arbitration. This shouldn't come as a major unveiling or Shakespearean denouement — after all, ever since India and Bangladesh resolved a mutual maritime territorial dispute in the summer of 2014 with the intermediation of an international court (a ruling that, incidentally, went in Bangladesh's favor), observers have noted India's preference for arbitration. What's interesting is Ralte's follow-up comment: "Even if we are [the] stronger country, politically or economically, we should abide by internationally accepted principles." The implication of that statement should be clear for observers in China.

Still, the ambassador's statements will mean little until they are repeated by the Indian prime minister in East and Southeast Asian capitals. India's at the point where it's expressed a clear preference for how it would like to see events resolved in the South China Sea, joining a chorus of mostly democratic, mostly U.S.-aligned states in opposing Chinese irredentism. I'm not optimistic that, in practice, international arbitration will solve these difficult disputes, but having Asia's largest democracy back the idea will impose additional costs on Beijing for defecting from what seems to be a widespread regional preference.

India’s Got a Plan For South China Sea Disputes (And China Won’t Like It) | The Diplomat
 

SajeevJino

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Re: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prepares for an Indian Ocean T

What are the 4 pacts signed with Seychelles? The news articles have a lot of words in them, but from information perspective, they are hollow.


with Seychelles

cooperation in hydrography,
renewable energy,
infrastructure development and
sale of navigation charts and electronic navigational charts.

with Mauritius

The MoU in the field of ocean economy
The MoU for improvement in sea and air transportation facilities at Agalega Island
import of Indian mangoes
an agreement on cultural cooperation for 2015-18
ooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and homoeopathy.


Seychelles gives the Assumption Island and
Mauritius gives the Agalega Island

Mauritius $500 million credit too
 

sorcerer

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Modi's Indian Ocean Visit: 2 Aircraft Carriers, 7 Warships To Keep Vigi

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on three Indian Ocean nations tour today to enhance maritime relations, the Indian Navy has deployed its two formidable carrier battle groups led by aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and INS Virat along with seven warships to keep a close vigil on the Indian Ocean Region.

Mr Modi began his five-day visit that would cover Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. A day before the Prime Minister began his tour to the Indian Ocean Region, both the battle group along with warships from Western fleet, armed with fighter jets, helicopters, reconnaissance planes, missiles and other weaponry reached Kochi, reports Defence News.

This is for the first time that the newly-inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is visiting Kochi after joining the fleet. Incidentally, Mr Modi had visited the aircraft carrier last year, immediately after assuming the office.


This is also for the first time that the Indian Navy has deployed its both aircraft carriers in tandem to keep vigil on the vast span of Indian Ocean Regions western flank. Officially, the fleet has been moved from Mumbai to Kochi 'to synergise the training and operational aspects of the Navy.'

All these three nations, where the Prime Minister is visiting, are considered vital for maritime security and an important link between Strait of Malacca to the gulf of Aden, an area which is full of maritime activities as 70 per cent of the oil passes through the sea lanes criss-crossing the region.

Off late, China has been deepening its relations with littoral states to the Indian Ocean Region, particularly Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Seychelles as part of its String of Pearls diplomacy to counter Indias Look East Policy, which is often described as Encircle China policy by Beijings commentators.

INS Vikramaditya, the latest aircraft carrier inducted by the Indian Navy, is presently based at Karwar and commanded by Capt Suraj Berry. The ship has been fully integrated with the fleet post trials and has successfully participated in the recently concluded Theatre level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX) where it was extensively used in its operational role. INS Virat, the other aircraft carrier, is being commanded by Capt Rajesh Pendharkar.




Read more: http://hindi.sputniknews.com/south_asia/20150311/1013721030.html#ixzz3UBow2nfk
 

amoy

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China is a lion. If a lion roars, people listen.

India is a scavenger. Nobody respects a scavenger.

Enough said.
India talks, China delivers!

Like China has quietly completed the trans-Myanmar pipelines to the Indian Ocean, and Lankan ports in progress.

All those MoUs are good but what is missing may be execution.

 

salute

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Re: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prepares for an Indian Ocean T

China is a lion. If a lion roars, people listen.

India is a scavenger. Nobody respects a scavenger.

Enough said.
India talks, China delivers!

Like China has quietly completed the trans-Myanmar pipelines to the Indian Ocean, and Lankan ports in progress.

All those MoUs are good but what is missing may be execution.

i thought china is a dragon :laugh::laugh::laugh:

both of you needs something for your a**burning especially that paki @genius :taunt::taunt::taunt:
 
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amoy

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i thought china is a dragon :laugh::laugh::laugh:

both of you needs something for your a**burning especially that paki @genius :taunt::taunt::taunt:
u were not wrong the magic dragon is puffing. we're only children observing King Modi's grand parade. hope no raw nerve has been touched :rolleyes:

~Tapa talks: Orange is the new black.~
 
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Ray

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Neighbours, now not distant

PM's visit helps cement ties with Indian Ocean statesPrime Minister Narendra Modi has done well by focusing on Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka for diplomatic engagement, something that was long awaited. It has been 28 years since an Indian PM made a stand-alone visit to Sri Lanka, and 34 since Seychelles received the head of Indian Government. There is no doubt that India has long-standing historical and cultural relations with these nations, but in the world of real-politic, it seemed that China managed to get a toe-hold in the region that India regards as its sphere of influence.

The UPA did start the process of building bridges, but Modi's focus on neighbouring countries has certainly taken the engagement to a new level. Diplomacy, however, is more than visits, and thus the slew of agreements signed during the Prime Minister's visits will help to further strengthen ties. An aggressive Indian role, including providing military and economic assistance, is needed to counter Beijing's deep pockets and a long-standing desire to further strengthen its bases in the Indian Ocean. The 21st-century maritime silk road project is another iteration of the "string of pearls" strategy that China has long pursued, with varying degree of success. It found a temporary toe-hold in Sri Lanka, where a Chinese submarine docked in a Chinese-owned terminal in Colombo, and it has a major interest in Pakistan's Gwadar port, both of which caused concern among Indian strategic analysts.

Modi has received a rousing welcome in Seychelles, where he held talks with President James Alexis Michel and in Mauritius, where he was chief guest at Mauritius's 42nd National Day celebrations and interacted with Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth. His visit to Sri Lanka, where he will hold talks with the top leadership in Colombo and also visit Jafana, is also expected to improve ties with a strategic neighbour. The diplomatic initiative has started well. India's strengthening its involvement with neighbours who are not separated, but bound by an ocean, should yield rich dividends in the future.
Neighbours, now not distant
 

Ray

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u were not wrong the magic dragon is puffing. we're only children observing King Modi's grand parade. hope no raw nerve has been touched :rolleyes:

~Tapa talks: Orange is the new black.~
China is a


This is what is being administered these days by all



India used to talk, but now they are delivering.

Check 'King' Modi (as you put it) march around the Indian Ocean rim to include Sri Lanka. And check your Chinese media Hopping Mad reaction over SL's hold on the Colombo Port project where a part of it would make a legatee in perpetuity and ensure Chinese foothold and dominance in the IOR.
 
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sorcerer

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Narendra Modi's Active Indian Ocean Diplomacy

The power equations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) have implications not only for the littoral states but for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Through the Indian Ocean run some of the busiest sea lanes globally, as oil and natural resources traverse from west to east to feed the burgeoning needs of the world's second largest economy, China, and the country it dislodged from that slot, Japan. By virtue of its size, geographic location, and economic and military potential India is expected to play a leading role in keeping the sea lanes of communication through the Indian Ocean safe for international trade and commerce.

The growing might of the Chinese Navy and its outreach to IOR nations is a concern, one not entirely limited to India. China's aggressive posture in the South China Sea is shaping regional apprehensions. Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and even Australia and Japan are anxious. Given its assertiveness in the South China Sea, Chinese plans of a Maritime Silk Route ring bells in many a capital.

It's essential that we grasp the contours of the Maritime Silk Route before we progress further. The route originates from Quanzhou in Fujian province and, after berthing at Hainan, passes through the Malacca Straits to find anchorage at Kolkata, India. The Chinese map makes no mention of Sitwe in Myanmar or Chittagong, Bangladesh as possible stopovers enroute. Beyond Kolkata, the route conspicuously skirts Hambantota, Sri Lanka, a port facility that Mahinda Rajapaksa, the recently ousted Sri Lankan president, was laying open to Chinese interests. The Silk Route continues west and traverses the Red Sea to dock at Athens and thereon to Venice where the confluence of the maritime and land silk routes occur. Gwadar, Pakistan, where the Chinese have built a mammoth deep-sea port, is also ignored.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently undertook a five-day tour of three Indian Ocean countries, displaying an active foreign policy intent after a period of prolonged drift. His ports of call, Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, are located strategically in the Indian Ocean region.

Long Overdue

Modi's first port of call was Seychelles. The island nation, strategically located when viewed in the context of sea lanes of communications, has long been an Indian ally. A visit by an Indian head of government was long overdue – the last was by Indira Gandhi in 1981. Then Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Seychelles in 2007, which subsequently offered docking and berthing facilities for Chinese ships on anti-piracy operations. Obviously, New Delhi has taken notice. It was clearly past time to give the relationship a boost.

Modi started his visit by gifting a Dornier aircraft. Four agreements were subsequently inked. These included agreements on cooperation in hydrography, renewable energy, infrastructure development, and the sale of navigation and electronic navigational charts.

The agreement to develop infrastructure on Assumption Island is of greater significance. The island development project provides an opportunity for New Delhi to place strategic assets in the Indian Ocean. Modi also launched a Costal Surveillance Radar Project.

The Indian prime minister's next stop was Mauritius, another country with which India has enjoyed decades of strong ties. In 1983, when the then Mauritian prime minister was anticipating a coup, his Indian counterpart Indira Gandhi is reported to have contemplated dispatching troops.

With Modi's visit, the two sides have signed five bilateral agreements or understandings. India has also extended a $500 million line of credit. The agreements cover the areas of ocean economy, cultural cooperation, the import of fresh mangoes from India, sea air transportation in the Agalega Islands, medicine, and homeopathy (widely practiced in India). Of greater significance is the proposed Indian assistance in developing the Agalega Islands. A statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the facilities would, "enhance the capabilities of the Mauritian Defence Forces in safeguarding their interests."

Modi was also chief guest at the Mauritius National Day Celebrations and addressed the Mauritian National Assembly. An Indian coastal patrol vessel was also commissioned as part of the visit.

Mauritius is among the largest sources of foreign direct investment in India. The two countries have agreed to fast-track the revision of their tax treaty. Misuse of the agreement has led to Mauritius becoming a favoured destination for hiding wealth. The issue has become a contentious one between the two countries.

Difficult Prospect

Next on Modi's itinerary was Sri Lanka, a far more difficult prospect.
Delhi's bonhomie with Colombo has often been used as a plank by local politicians in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to run down the central government. The sizeable Tamil population in Sri Lanka always demands deft maneuvering by an Indian prime minister. The pressures of Indian domestic politics and a drifting Indian foreign policy had created a gulf between two otherwise close neighbours that fought an insurgency on the island nation together, more than two decades back. Relations only worsened with Rajapaksa's strong tilt towards China. The last time an Indian prime minister visited Sri Lankan was in 1987.

Modi took up the challenge, and has handled it deftly. The balancing act was perceptible throughout the visit. In his talks and statements at Colombo, Modi emphasized the issues of accommodating "the aspirations of all sections of society, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community." He also spoke in favor of implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution, which guarantees a greater devolution of powers to Tamils, and urged new President Maithripala Sirisena to go beyond it. A rather bold itinerary took Modi into Sri Lanka's Tamil majority area of Jaffna. However, while at Jaffna, he visited the memorial for Indian Soldiers, an act unlikely to be viewed too kindly by Sri Lankan Tamils.

Amongst bilateral agreements signed are a customs pact, a credit line for $300 million, visa-on-arrival for Sri Lankan passport holders, and a $1.5 billion currency swap agreement to help the island nation keep its currency stable.


At Jaffna, Modi met the Northern Province chief minister and Tamil leader C V Wigneswaran. At a ceremony to mark the more than 27,000 houses constructed by India for Tamils in the region, Modi promised to deliver another 20,000 already committed by India.

The Indian prime minister also announced his country's support for the idea of Trincomalee becoming a petroleum hub. Sri Lanka's state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the local subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation would drive the project. The complex has 99 storage tanks, each with 12,000 tons capacity. The assets are definitely of strategic significance.

Greater Role

For peace and progress in the region it's important that the Indian Ocean remain a zone of peace. In fact, the purposes of all stakeholders are served by its waters remaining open for transit to global shipping. Should the tranquility of the sea waters in the region be disturbed, the repercussions would be felt by nations further west in the Pacific.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit has sent an audible message to IOR nations that India is ready to discharge its responsibilities in the area, proactively.
There are problems to address, including piracy and conflicting interpretations of exclusive economic zones, but these need to be resolved within the ambit of international law and by recourse to dialogue.

Countries in the South China Sea have been urging India to play a greater role in the region.
Certainly, Beijing needs to realize that its abrasive approach can be off-putting for smaller nations and only encourages them to coalesce as an anti-China group open to other influences. But should China be ready to share the resources of South China Sea with other nations, many of them legitimate claimants, perhaps a more conducive environment could be created to further the professed goal of its Silk Routes: economic growth.

SK Chatterji is a Brigadier (Retired) of the Indian Army. He writes on national defense and international security.
 

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External Affairs Minister's address at International Conference on "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" in Bhubaneswar


Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I address you all today at this International Conference, "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" jointly organized by Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, Kolkata. I would like to place on record my appreciation for RIS and the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies for their hard work in organizing this Conference.

The city of Bhubaneswar has a unique distinction of having rich history which goes back to many millennia and at the same time being among modern India's first planned cities. The city is home to a large number of ancient temples which stand testimony to millennia old uninterrupted flow of its culture and a number of institutes, or I may say, temples of higher learning. The World Bank has ranked Bhubaneswar as the best place to do business in India. So, it presents an apt location for engaging in deliberations like the one you all are starting today.

The Indian Ocean has been our common maritime home since time immemorial. India was home to some of the earliest seaports in the world and has had a long maritime tradition. The seas around us have facilitate links of commerce, culture, and religion with our extended neighbourhood across several millenniums. This is evident from our cultural footprints which stretch across Asia and Africa.

Importance of the Indian Ocean region from the stand point of historical and cultural linkages is no less than other.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when it comes to the role of Diaspora we focus on issues where national economic development comes at the centre-stage. When I took over as Minister for External Affairs, I'd an opportunity of participating at the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in London, when, along with others, I also rejoiced the success of the Indian Diaspora and invited them to actively participate in India's growth story.

Thanks to our strong community linkages of the Indian Ocean, our respective cultural practices, values and societal ethos are well defined in our folk songs and writings.

Boitha Bandana that is the worshipping of the ships is a practice that has been there since Kalinga days. The ships used to embark on long voyages to Sri Lanka, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malaya, Vietnam and also to China.

While here, if any of you find time please do visit the Sun Temple of Konarak, where you can see a boat containing a giraffe, which shows linkages with Africa.

The festival of Baliyatra on Karthik Purnima in November is a continuation of this tradition. With commendable efforts of the State government here, this has emerged as a major connect with our ancient maritime legacy.

Small Krathongs or boats on several streets of Bangkok, sometime in November, remind us of Boitha. Similar cultural practices are evident in Indonesia when Mesakapan Ke Tukad is celebrated all across the different islands.

Our writers have captured the movement of people across the Indian Ocean with vivid details. In contemporary times, Amitav Ghosh's 2008 Booker nominated novel Sea of Poppies captures how a voyage of the East India Company ship Ibis travelling from India to Mauritius has characters from diverse social milieu who recognise themselves as jahaj bhais. It is a saga of building of nations and role of migration. It tells us what happens when languages interact. Do we really need a common language to communicate? It is the power of humanity prevailing when Bhojpuri interacts with French to create Creole for building bridges of communication.

Another similar instance comes from another famous writer Shri Giriraj Kishore with his 'Pahla Girmitiya' where he has also explained how individuals responded to the situations they were pushed in. This novel gives a detailed description of how Gandhiji developed his non-violent principles through protest methods like Satyagraha. This year as we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa, we salute the courage and conviction with which the `girmitiya' withstood the atrocities and difficult times.

This is indication of one fact only that we need to reconnect and re-explore these linkages. In his famous poem "The Time Has Come", Lewis Carrol (1872) has a message for us and I recall the few lines by him:

'The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright—

'And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

'After the day was done—

"It's very rude of him," she said,

"To come and spoil the fun!"

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

The time has come!!'

There is a growing body of evidence to show for example that East Africa had flourishing trade ties with India long before Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India via the Cape of Good Hope. Communication between the two regions was facilitated by the monsoon trade winds. India's trade, including spices, cotton and cotton-made fabrics, was reaching countries in far areas of Africa and South East Asia as well as Europe. India's ancient trade linkages including in the cotton trade with the countries of the Indian Ocean Region and beyond could well be a subject of a standalone in-depth study.

Today, the Indian Ocean carries one half of world's container shipments, one-third of the bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the oil shipments, though three-fourths of this traffic goes to other regions of the world. 90% of our trade by volume and 90 % of our oil imports take place through sea. We have a long coastline of 7500 km, 1200 islands and a 2.4 million square kilometres of Exclusive Economic Zone.

The vast Indian Ocean region hosts over 40 states and nearly 40 % of world population. It is vast and diverse, home to great cultures and holds immense opportunities for the future.

Therefore, this region which extends from African coast to West Asia, South Asia and South East Asia and touches Australia has been a focus of our foreign policy. This is evident from the several visits undertaken by Prime Minister to this region including most recently to Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. I myself have also visited most of the countries in this region.

We call this Indian Ocean outreach as 'SAGAR'. As Prime Minister said in Mauritius last week, we seek a future for Indian Ocean that lives up to the name of SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region.

Our vision for the Indian Ocean Region is therefore built on fostering increasing cooperation in our region, use of our capabilities for the benefit of all in our common maritime home and assisting our maritime neighbours and island states in building their maritime security capabilities.

We believe that we will prosper when the seas are safe, secure and free for all. We therefore have advocated collective action and cooperation in the region. We strongly believe that those who live in this region have the primary responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean. At the same time we recognize that there are other nations, who may have strong interests or presence in the region.

The Indian Ocean has acquired new salience with the shift of the global economic engines to Asia. There has been sustained economic growth in the countries on the littoral of the Indian Ocean. We see growing global stakes and presence in the region. At the same time the region is witnessing non-traditional threats such as natural disasters, piracy, terrorism, illegal fishing, oil spills and effects of climate change.

Maritime Security is an important dimension of India's bilateral relations with all Indian Ocean Littoral states and through various formal and informal structures currently in place.

We look forward to building closer cooperation in the maritime domain, regularize bilateral maritime exercises and strengthen the dialogues between the navies and the Coast Guards with all littoral countries in the Indian Ocean Region. India is part of various multilateral institutions, which are actively debating maritime security issues in the Asia Pacific region.

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, which India founded in 2008, has 35 countries participating in its various activities.
The effort has gathered momentum and deepened mutual understanding on maritime challenges and has strengthened our collective ability to address them.

We value our trilateral maritime security cooperation with Sri Lanka and Maldives. We are exploring possibilities of expanding it to include others in the Indian Ocean Region in particular Seychelles and Mauritius.

The Indian Navy has been playing an important role in this through increased bilateral/multilateral maritime exercises including MILAN which saw participation from 17 regional navies off the Andaman Coast in February 2014.

As a founder member of the Contact Group on Piracy, India has been sensitive to the maritime security situation in the Gulf of Aden for the shipping lanes in this part of the Indian Ocean.
Consequently, to protect Indian ships and Indian citizens employed in sea-faring duties, the Indian Navy commenced anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and the sea routes of the Indian Ocean in 2008.

We have been working with like-minded countries to preserve the integrity, inviolability and security of maritime domain which is a global commos. We are committed to maritime security, freedom of navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.

We are seeking a more cooperative and integrated future for the region through overall development of the ocean or blue economy. This would promote increased cooperation in trade, tourism and investment, infrastructure development, marine science and technology, sustainable fisheries and protection of marine environment.

Through greater collaboration we look forward to increasing our understanding of marine ecology and resources and improving our abilities to harness new possibilities offered by the Indian Ocean in a sustainable and balanced manner and through a collaborative effort of the countries located in the Indian Ocean region.

In this connection the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC), which is now known as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) formed in 1997, by Australia, India, Mauritius, Oman, Singapore and South Africa provides an ideal platform. The Association was established with the primary focus on economic cooperation, to promote sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of its Member States, and create common ground for regional economic cooperation.

However, unfortunately, the launching of IORA coincided with the 'Asian Crisis' in 1997, when economically vibrant economies within the region, particularly countries in the East and South-East, were subject to severe economic turmoil, and failed to provide adequate support to the new regional initiative. The entire region witnessed series of external shocks intermittently during the subsequent years. This led to modest progress registered by the Association in its initial phase of little more than a decade. However, significant economic and financial challenges including those flowing from the global economic and financial crisis of 2007 notwithstanding, the members of IORA remained steadfast in their efforts aimed at further consolidating the Association.

At the 11th meeting of the IORA Council of Ministers that took place under India's Chairmanship in Bengaluru in November 2011, the members were unanimous in their approach to identify six priority areas for cooperation in coming years and those are: (i) Maritime Safety and Security; (ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation; (iii) Fisheries Management; (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Academic and S&T Cooperation; and (vi) Tourism Promotion and Cultural Exchanges.

The visibility of the grouping has increased in recent years with the initiation of several new activities in different cooperation mechanisms under IORA. Member countries have shown renewed interest in participating and also in launching number of programmes to coordinate between regional economies in diverse range of areas including capacity building, scholarships programmes, among others.

On the economic front, IORA exhibited significant dynamism in the past few years. The region experienced steady growth in global and intra-regional trade since 2003. Global trade expanded by 3.5 times from USD 1,224 billion in 2003 to USD 4,232 billion in 2012 whereas intra-regional trade increased by more than four times from USD 302 billion to USD 1,230 billion over the same period. Intra-regional trade ratio that measures the degree of trade integration in the region has also registered significant increase over the years. This growth in intra-regional trade without any formal trade arrangement among the member states reflects the potential existing in the region for deepening regional economic integration.

Besides goods, the region witnessed a significant rise in services trade. The region as a whole was found competitive in services sectors such as telecommunications, computer and information services; transport and travel whereas individual member countries are competitive in a number of other services sectors also.

However, full potential of intra-regional trade remains untapped because of poor communication and transport links, lack of information about the supply capabilities, among other barriers. The ports in most part of the region need to be modernized and equipped with multi-modal transport facilities besides efficiency improvements. The customs and clearance procedures at borders need to be streamlined to reduce delays and costs of transit.

Similarly the intra-regional investment is still negligible despite tremendous potential. Deepening of regional economic integration may help in exploiting this hidden potential of intra-regional cooperation for mutual benefit.

The existing trade potential can be further tapped through sectoral cooperation initiatives. The emerging sectors that present immense potential for trade expansion and regional integration include food processing, fisheries, tourism, environmentally sensitive goods, information technology, SMEs, regional value chain, and so on. Time has come that the countries in the region consider evolving a common regional standard to promote intra-regional trade. Some mechanisms need to be evolved to address the challenges and hindrances in the way of trade growth to ensure that intra-regional trade becomes significant to make the overall economic performance of IORA vibrant.

We see IORA is as a regional body that can respond effectively to the needs and enhance individual and collective capacities of Member-States to tackle contemporary challenges of sustainable and balanced economic growth, development and common maritime domain. The IORA provides an effective multilateral platform that facilitates realization of untapped opportunities for prosperity, peace and development of the region. The growing number of membership and the number of Dialogue Partners is a testimony of growing salience of the Indian Ocean and IORA as the apex body in the Region.

It gives me satisfaction to note that IORA members are taking a number of initiatives to address the challenges in the way of further deepening of trade and economic ties amongst themselves.

I am sure this Conference would facilitate exchange of ideas, concerns and experiences of IORA Member States and would help evolve a common understanding to address the emerging challenges in the region. I look forward to substantive and fruitful discussions ahead.

Once again I thank RIS and the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies for their timely initiative to organize this Conference and inviting me to share my vision with the galaxy of scholars and experts present here.

External Affairs Minister's address at International Conference on "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" in Bhubaneswar
 

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External Affairs Minister's address at International Conference on "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" in Bhubaneswar


Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I address you all today at this International Conference, "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" jointly organized by Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) and Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, Kolkata. I would like to place on record my appreciation for RIS and the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies for their hard work in organizing this Conference.

The city of Bhubaneswar has a unique distinction of having rich history which goes back to many millennia and at the same time being among modern India's first planned cities. The city is home to a large number of ancient temples which stand testimony to millennia old uninterrupted flow of its culture and a number of institutes, or I may say, temples of higher learning. The World Bank has ranked Bhubaneswar as the best place to do business in India. So, it presents an apt location for engaging in deliberations like the one you all are starting today.

The Indian Ocean has been our common maritime home since time immemorial. India was home to some of the earliest seaports in the world and has had a long maritime tradition. The seas around us have facilitate links of commerce, culture, and religion with our extended neighbourhood across several millenniums. This is evident from our cultural footprints which stretch across Asia and Africa.

Importance of the Indian Ocean region from the stand point of historical and cultural linkages is no less than other.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when it comes to the role of Diaspora we focus on issues where national economic development comes at the centre-stage. When I took over as Minister for External Affairs, I'd an opportunity of participating at the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in London, when, along with others, I also rejoiced the success of the Indian Diaspora and invited them to actively participate in India's growth story.

Thanks to our strong community linkages of the Indian Ocean, our respective cultural practices, values and societal ethos are well defined in our folk songs and writings.

Boitha Bandana that is the worshipping of the ships is a practice that has been there since Kalinga days. The ships used to embark on long voyages to Sri Lanka, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Malaya, Vietnam and also to China.

While here, if any of you find time please do visit the Sun Temple of Konarak, where you can see a boat containing a giraffe, which shows linkages with Africa.

The festival of Baliyatra on Karthik Purnima in November is a continuation of this tradition. With commendable efforts of the State government here, this has emerged as a major connect with our ancient maritime legacy.

Small Krathongs or boats on several streets of Bangkok, sometime in November, remind us of Boitha. Similar cultural practices are evident in Indonesia when Mesakapan Ke Tukad is celebrated all across the different islands.

Our writers have captured the movement of people across the Indian Ocean with vivid details. In contemporary times, Amitav Ghosh's 2008 Booker nominated novel Sea of Poppies captures how a voyage of the East India Company ship Ibis travelling from India to Mauritius has characters from diverse social milieu who recognise themselves as jahaj bhais. It is a saga of building of nations and role of migration. It tells us what happens when languages interact. Do we really need a common language to communicate? It is the power of humanity prevailing when Bhojpuri interacts with French to create Creole for building bridges of communication.

Another similar instance comes from another famous writer Shri Giriraj Kishore with his 'Pahla Girmitiya' where he has also explained how individuals responded to the situations they were pushed in. This novel gives a detailed description of how Gandhiji developed his non-violent principles through protest methods like Satyagraha. This year as we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa, we salute the courage and conviction with which the `girmitiya' withstood the atrocities and difficult times.

This is indication of one fact only that we need to reconnect and re-explore these linkages. In his famous poem "The Time Has Come", Lewis Carrol (1872) has a message for us and I recall the few lines by him:

'The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright—

'And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

'After the day was done—

"It's very rude of him," she said,

"To come and spoil the fun!"

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

The time has come!!'

There is a growing body of evidence to show for example that East Africa had flourishing trade ties with India long before Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India via the Cape of Good Hope. Communication between the two regions was facilitated by the monsoon trade winds. India's trade, including spices, cotton and cotton-made fabrics, was reaching countries in far areas of Africa and South East Asia as well as Europe. India's ancient trade linkages including in the cotton trade with the countries of the Indian Ocean Region and beyond could well be a subject of a standalone in-depth study.

Today, the Indian Ocean carries one half of world's container shipments, one-third of the bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the oil shipments, though three-fourths of this traffic goes to other regions of the world. 90% of our trade by volume and 90 % of our oil imports take place through sea. We have a long coastline of 7500 km, 1200 islands and a 2.4 million square kilometres of Exclusive Economic Zone.

The vast Indian Ocean region hosts over 40 states and nearly 40 % of world population. It is vast and diverse, home to great cultures and holds immense opportunities for the future.

Therefore, this region which extends from African coast to West Asia, South Asia and South East Asia and touches Australia has been a focus of our foreign policy. This is evident from the several visits undertaken by Prime Minister to this region including most recently to Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. I myself have also visited most of the countries in this region.

We call this Indian Ocean outreach as 'SAGAR'. As Prime Minister said in Mauritius last week, we seek a future for Indian Ocean that lives up to the name of SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region.

Our vision for the Indian Ocean Region is therefore built on fostering increasing cooperation in our region, use of our capabilities for the benefit of all in our common maritime home and assisting our maritime neighbours and island states in building their maritime security capabilities.

We believe that we will prosper when the seas are safe, secure and free for all. We therefore have advocated collective action and cooperation in the region. We strongly believe that those who live in this region have the primary responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean. At the same time we recognize that there are other nations, who may have strong interests or presence in the region.

The Indian Ocean has acquired new salience with the shift of the global economic engines to Asia. There has been sustained economic growth in the countries on the littoral of the Indian Ocean. We see growing global stakes and presence in the region. At the same time the region is witnessing non-traditional threats such as natural disasters, piracy, terrorism, illegal fishing, oil spills and effects of climate change.

Maritime Security is an important dimension of India's bilateral relations with all Indian Ocean Littoral states and through various formal and informal structures currently in place.

We look forward to building closer cooperation in the maritime domain, regularize bilateral maritime exercises and strengthen the dialogues between the navies and the Coast Guards with all littoral countries in the Indian Ocean Region. India is part of various multilateral institutions, which are actively debating maritime security issues in the Asia Pacific region.

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, which India founded in 2008, has 35 countries participating in its various activities.
The effort has gathered momentum and deepened mutual understanding on maritime challenges and has strengthened our collective ability to address them.

We value our trilateral maritime security cooperation with Sri Lanka and Maldives. We are exploring possibilities of expanding it to include others in the Indian Ocean Region in particular Seychelles and Mauritius.

The Indian Navy has been playing an important role in this through increased bilateral/multilateral maritime exercises including MILAN which saw participation from 17 regional navies off the Andaman Coast in February 2014.

As a founder member of the Contact Group on Piracy, India has been sensitive to the maritime security situation in the Gulf of Aden for the shipping lanes in this part of the Indian Ocean.
Consequently, to protect Indian ships and Indian citizens employed in sea-faring duties, the Indian Navy commenced anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and the sea routes of the Indian Ocean in 2008.

We have been working with like-minded countries to preserve the integrity, inviolability and security of maritime domain which is a global commos. We are committed to maritime security, freedom of navigation, unimpeded lawful commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.

We are seeking a more cooperative and integrated future for the region through overall development of the ocean or blue economy. This would promote increased cooperation in trade, tourism and investment, infrastructure development, marine science and technology, sustainable fisheries and protection of marine environment.

Through greater collaboration we look forward to increasing our understanding of marine ecology and resources and improving our abilities to harness new possibilities offered by the Indian Ocean in a sustainable and balanced manner and through a collaborative effort of the countries located in the Indian Ocean region.

In this connection the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC), which is now known as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) formed in 1997, by Australia, India, Mauritius, Oman, Singapore and South Africa provides an ideal platform. The Association was established with the primary focus on economic cooperation, to promote sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of its Member States, and create common ground for regional economic cooperation.

However, unfortunately, the launching of IORA coincided with the 'Asian Crisis' in 1997, when economically vibrant economies within the region, particularly countries in the East and South-East, were subject to severe economic turmoil, and failed to provide adequate support to the new regional initiative. The entire region witnessed series of external shocks intermittently during the subsequent years. This led to modest progress registered by the Association in its initial phase of little more than a decade. However, significant economic and financial challenges including those flowing from the global economic and financial crisis of 2007 notwithstanding, the members of IORA remained steadfast in their efforts aimed at further consolidating the Association.

At the 11th meeting of the IORA Council of Ministers that took place under India's Chairmanship in Bengaluru in November 2011, the members were unanimous in their approach to identify six priority areas for cooperation in coming years and those are: (i) Maritime Safety and Security; (ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation; (iii) Fisheries Management; (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Academic and S&T Cooperation; and (vi) Tourism Promotion and Cultural Exchanges.

The visibility of the grouping has increased in recent years with the initiation of several new activities in different cooperation mechanisms under IORA. Member countries have shown renewed interest in participating and also in launching number of programmes to coordinate between regional economies in diverse range of areas including capacity building, scholarships programmes, among others.

On the economic front, IORA exhibited significant dynamism in the past few years. The region experienced steady growth in global and intra-regional trade since 2003. Global trade expanded by 3.5 times from USD 1,224 billion in 2003 to USD 4,232 billion in 2012 whereas intra-regional trade increased by more than four times from USD 302 billion to USD 1,230 billion over the same period. Intra-regional trade ratio that measures the degree of trade integration in the region has also registered significant increase over the years. This growth in intra-regional trade without any formal trade arrangement among the member states reflects the potential existing in the region for deepening regional economic integration.

Besides goods, the region witnessed a significant rise in services trade. The region as a whole was found competitive in services sectors such as telecommunications, computer and information services; transport and travel whereas individual member countries are competitive in a number of other services sectors also.

However, full potential of intra-regional trade remains untapped because of poor communication and transport links, lack of information about the supply capabilities, among other barriers. The ports in most part of the region need to be modernized and equipped with multi-modal transport facilities besides efficiency improvements. The customs and clearance procedures at borders need to be streamlined to reduce delays and costs of transit.

Similarly the intra-regional investment is still negligible despite tremendous potential. Deepening of regional economic integration may help in exploiting this hidden potential of intra-regional cooperation for mutual benefit.

The existing trade potential can be further tapped through sectoral cooperation initiatives. The emerging sectors that present immense potential for trade expansion and regional integration include food processing, fisheries, tourism, environmentally sensitive goods, information technology, SMEs, regional value chain, and so on. Time has come that the countries in the region consider evolving a common regional standard to promote intra-regional trade. Some mechanisms need to be evolved to address the challenges and hindrances in the way of trade growth to ensure that intra-regional trade becomes significant to make the overall economic performance of IORA vibrant.

We see IORA is as a regional body that can respond effectively to the needs and enhance individual and collective capacities of Member-States to tackle contemporary challenges of sustainable and balanced economic growth, development and common maritime domain. The IORA provides an effective multilateral platform that facilitates realization of untapped opportunities for prosperity, peace and development of the region. The growing number of membership and the number of Dialogue Partners is a testimony of growing salience of the Indian Ocean and IORA as the apex body in the Region.

It gives me satisfaction to note that IORA members are taking a number of initiatives to address the challenges in the way of further deepening of trade and economic ties amongst themselves.

I am sure this Conference would facilitate exchange of ideas, concerns and experiences of IORA Member States and would help evolve a common understanding to address the emerging challenges in the region. I look forward to substantive and fruitful discussions ahead.

Once again I thank RIS and the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies for their timely initiative to organize this Conference and inviting me to share my vision with the galaxy of scholars and experts present here.

External Affairs Minister's address at International Conference on "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" in Bhubaneswar
 

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Re: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prepares for an Indian Ocean T

External Affairs Minister's address at International Conference on "India and Indian Ocean: Renewing the Maritime Trade and Civilizational Linkages" in Bhubaneswar



We call this Indian Ocean outreach as 'SAGAR'. As Prime Minister said in Mauritius last week, we seek a future for Indian Ocean that lives up to the name of SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region.
I love Modi's Jumlas.

Lets Rename Indian Ocean to Indian Pond :lol:
 

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India's Key to Sri Lanka: Maritime Infrastructure Development

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent trip to Sri Lanka highlights New Delhi's reawakening to the strategic position that Sri Lanka holds in India's neighborhood. Since 2008, India has watched as China built port facilities, highways, and other major infrastructure in Sri Lanka. People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships have also paid port visits to Sri Lanka, even taking in Trincomalee, where India has been sensitive to any extraregional presence for decades. Most recently, in September and October 2014, New Delhi became unsettled at the sight of a conventional Chinese submarine and a tender ship openly paying port visits in Colombo on the way to counterpiracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. Despite the public nature of the docking and advance notice, Indian policymakers appeared to be taken by surprise and feared India had lost strategic ground to China regarding Sri Lanka. In essence, how did India go from once being offered the opportunity by Sri Lanka to develop Hambantota harbor to being caught off guard by Chinese submarine visits in its backyard?

Shortly after the submarine episode, Maithripala Sirisena defeated Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka's January 2015 presidential election and visited India for a successful summit with Modi in February. But despite this recent warming of relations, India should recognize the underlying factors—some of its own making and others independent—that have contributed to the perception that India's overall relationship with Sri Lanka has fallen behind Sri Lanka's relationship with China, given the latter's robust commercial activity. A better understanding of these factors will help New Delhi develop a comprehensive and less reactive approach to Indian Ocean security as new manifestations of China's engagement in the region lead observers to question India's preeminence in its own backyard.

Why is India in this position?

Before considering the factors that have affected India's position in Sri Lanka and led some to conclude that India is now lagging behind China, observers should appreciate that India's overall political-military standing in the Indian Ocean is strong and outstrips that of China. As demonstrated by Modi's recent trip to Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and Seychelles, India is actively deepening its partnerships with most Indian Ocean littoral states. With Sri Lanka alone, India's naval ties have strengthened considerably during the postwar period in terms of bilateral exercises, staff talks, training, equipment, senior official visits, and trilateral maritime domain awareness cooperation involving Maldives. By contrast, Sri Lanka's naval relationship with China over the same period remains limited mostly to the realm of military diplomacy and some training.

Yet looking beyond India's strengths of geography and political-military standing, one can identify three primary issues that have complicated India's ties with Sri Lanka. The first set of developments involves China and is out of India's control: China's considerable ability to invest in and carry out infrastructure projects and the PLA's entry into the Indian Ocean due to regular counterpiracy patrols. Now that China has contributed to the security of the maritime commons, it is unrealistic to expect that the PLA Navy will not seek the opportunity to gain far-seas operational experience through a variety of assets, including the submarine and tender ship that visited Sri Lanka. The fact that PLA Navy ships prefer to visit a Chinese-built and operated terminal in Colombo is not surprising.

The second factor involves domestic Indian politics and center-state relations. Before the Modi era, New Delhi largely prioritized the internal interests of the state of Tamil Nadu over national strategic interests in Sri Lanka. For electoral reasons, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government needed to weigh the demands of Tamil Nadu's chief ministers concerning Tamil populations in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. India supported Colombo during its war against the LTTE through important assistance such as radars and intelligence sharing, but the Indian (and U.S.) ban on lethal assistance gave China the opportunity to fill a gap through its munitions and postwar diplomatic support to Colombo. This policy reduced Indian military and diplomatic assistance to Sri Lanka at critical times in its history. Regardless of the human rights merits of this policy, New Delhi needs to recognize the strategic implications of such a prioritization.

The third factor is less understood. India has not provided significant investment in Sri Lanka's maritime infrastructure, which Sri Lanka sees as essential to achieving its national development goals. An overlooked angle when trying to understand why India seems to have merely watched China develop a port presence in Sri Lanka is that India lacks a structural economic incentive (although it has a strategic incentive) to invest in Sri Lanka's maritime infrastructure. Of course, few countries can boast China's massive currency reserves for lending or environment of government-supported businesses to carry out construction activities. Plus, India has infrastructure development needs of its own, some of which will even be met by Chinese investment. But when India has actively promoted investment in the region by Indian companies or government-to-government assistance, it has focused on projects that do not pose direct economic competition. For example, India has provided up to $3 billion in lines of credit, loans, and grants to help build up infrastructure in Nepal and Bangladesh—two neighborhood countries considered low-income economies by the World Bank. In terms of development projects across the Indian Ocean, India is financing construction of Sittwe port in Myanmar, which will promote connectivity with India's landlocked northeast, and Chabahar port in Iran, which will allow trade from Afghanistan to bypass Pakistan.

In Sri Lanka, India is supporting infrastructure projects mostly in the north of Sri Lanka such as the construction of a power plant, 27,000 new homes, and a hospital; the dredging of the war-devastated Kankesanthurai port; and the reconstruction of the Northern Railway Line. While much appreciated and important for Sri Lanka's internal development, these projects are primarily intended to improve the infrastructure of the war-ravaged Tamil population in the north and help promote post-conflict reconciliation. They do not directly advance Colombo's maritime development goals as do Chinese port-building projects in Colombo and Hambantota and construction of highways connecting coastal cities like Colombo, Galle, and Matara.

On the other hand, Colombo competes with Mumbai for the busiest port in South Asia, and both have aspirations to rival Singapore as a regional shipping hub. When Rajapaksa offered India the opportunity to develop Hambantota port, New Delhi declined. It may have done so for many reasons (U.S. investors passed as well on Rajapaksa's offer); nevertheless, China was able to assume this role. Notwithstanding criticism during the election campaign of the terms of loans undertaken to build these projects, Chinese financing and construction have allowed Sri Lanka to develop two modern ports in the Indian Ocean region that can service the newest generation of deep-draft ships. China's terminal in Colombo port has already helped reduce congestion, and Hambantota port transships Indian-built cars exported to Africa.

Ironically, Chinese port development in Sri Lanka indirectly benefits India, whose ports are in need of upgrading and do not have the depth and large cranes that are needed to handle mega container ships. In fact, approximately 70 percent of shipping to and from Indian ports goes through Colombo port. Sri Lanka certainly wants the business from India, but New Delhi may see this transshipment activity as a shortcoming of Indian ports. For example, a former Indian foreign secretary suggested that Campbell Bay in India's Nicobar Islands should be developed to lessen some of this dependence. Although the Indian government and companies finance and carry out important connectivity projects throughout Sri Lanka, India has not chosen to develop maritime infrastructure on the scale that China has. When considering China's commercial investments and the PLA Navy's entry into the Indian Ocean, India's lower maritime investment profile in Sri Lanka has raised questions to observers about the strategic implications for India's standing in its region.

What's next?

The February and March Modi-Sirisena summits present opportunities for Indian investment in Sri Lanka, including in the maritime realm. Ferry services could restart, and Modi announced that Indian and Sri Lankan companies will work together to develop oil tank facilities that can refuel visiting ships in Trincomalee. Modi stated a desire to help the northern city become "a regional petroleum hub." These developments suggest India may undertake a major investment in Sri Lanka's maritime infrastructure. Furthermore, Harsha de Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy minister of policy planning and economic development, recently stated that "India would be welcome to invest in building and upgrading the east and west terminals of Colombo port."

More broadly, Modi's administration should encourage public-private partnerships and government-to-government investments in India's neighborhood, beyond concerns about China.
According to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in the world. By investing in Sri Lanka's maritime infrastructure and regional connectivity, India is enhancing its own security. Of course, India needs to build up its domestic maritime infrastructure, such as through Modi's Sagar Mala initiative. But maritime South Asia will be developed eventually (although much too slowly for those within the region), and India should have a stake in the course of this development rather than primarily extraregional countries and institutions driving the process.

Beginning with the UPA government and now under the Modi administration, India has made great strides in recent years to expand its political and military weight in the Indian Ocean. New Delhi now needs to work on building the economic dimension of maritime power. All Indian Ocean countries—including India—want to improve their infrastructure. Until India approaches maritime economic policy in its neighborhood more proactively and demonstrates the appeal of its own investment and construction capabilities, it will continue to react with alarm to each new manifestation of China's inexorable reach into the Indian Ocean.

Nilanthi Samaranayake is a strategic studies analyst at CNA Corporation, a non-profit research and analysis organization located in the Washington, D.C. area. The views expressed are solely those of the author and not of any organization with which she is affiliated.

India's Key to Sri Lanka: Maritime Infrastructure Development | The Diplomat
 

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