India-Maldives - Defence strategy

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India setting up radar network in Maldives

India is installing 10 radars across islands in the Maldives to help it monitor the surrounding seas.
The radars, besides assisting the Maldives in building a maritime surveillance system, will also help India keep track of its strategic interests in the region.
“Some (of the radars) have already been set up. India is also training (our) men to operate and run the radars. At least two men would be required (for each radar)," Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed said.
Nasheed is Maldives’ first democratically-elected president.
Terming relations with India as "excellent," Nasheed said his country would want New Delhi to be a member of the UN Security Council to fight issues like global warming, which for him was a security problem.
“We should have India at the Security Council,” he said, adding this would enable Delhi to be part of the decision making in a group till now confined to the five-member UN group.
On the issue of radars, Nasheed added they were being installed on the request of the Maldivian government.
The Maldives, made of 1,192 islands, stretches for 1,200 nautical miles from north to south and the radars would help in keeping a watch on activities around the vast stretches of the Indian Ocean, Nasheed said, playing down India’s own strategic interests in the area.
“India is not trying to influence us. We wanted the radars. A lot of bio-mass poaching (poaching of fish and corals) happens in the area. So does a lot of illegal commercial fishing,’’ he said on Monday.
Diplomatic sources in Male told HT that cargo worth more than $700 million passes through the sea channel near the Maldives. Strategically, the islands are important because of their location in the Indian Ocean. Both China and US either have or are strengthening naval presence in the area.
“Dio Garcia (where the US and UK jointly operate a military base with powerful radars) is located in the region and actually nearer than it is perceived to be. China is also building ports in Hambantota (Sri Lanka) and Gwadar (Pakistan)," a diplomatic source said.

 

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India to supply coastal security equipment to Mauritius

New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) India and Mauritius signed an agreement for enhancing coastal security during the visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor earlier this week, when he also handed over a Dhruv helicopter to the Indian ocean island state.
Tharoor on a two-day official visit was the chief guest at the 175th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of indentured labourers from India. The Indian minister also met with the Mauritian President Anerood Juganauth, Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and held talks with Foreign Minister Arvin Boolell.

On Tuesday, both governments signed an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding for supply of coastal surveillance radar system from India to Mauritius. A separate agreement was also signed between the Mauritian government and Bharat Electronics Limited for the supply of the equipment.

Under the agreement, India will supply up to eight coastal surveillance radar systems, five of which will be on the main island, while one each on the islands of Rodrigues, Agalega and St. Brandon.

BEL will also provide the training and technical support. “An India-Mauritius Joint Monitoring Committee will be set up consisting of members from the government of India, government of Mauritius and BEL to facilitate the implementation of the project and review the progress of work,” said a press release issued by the external affairs ministry

Tharoor handed over a Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter to Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, which was then inducted into the Mauritius Police Force. Later, Ramgoolam took Tharoor for a spin on the helicopter for a aerial tour of the island nation.

Both the coastal surveillance radar system and the helicopter are covered under the grant element of the $100 million line of credit that India offered during the visit of Prime Minister Ramgoolam in October 2005.

The Indian minister also delivered an address to a 800-member audience in the University of Mauritius on the subject “India-Africa: Partners in Development”.


India to supply coastal security equipment to Mauritius