Stronger ties must for ‘stability’ in Indian Ocean

India is the strongest naval nation today. None of the other nine Indian Ocean rim nations with navies to speak of — South Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia — has the wherewithal of New Delhi’s Navy

Strong regional ties are a must to ensure stability in Indian Ocean region. Quotes from the speech of the Indian Navy Chief in Sri Lanka make it loud and clear that the word “region” is meant for those nations which have an Indian Ocean coastline. However, what remains unexplained and unelaborated is the exact description of, and prescription for the words “regional ties” Presumably, it has got to do with those who not only have a coastline but also possess a reasonably sustainable navy to operate and deploy to the sea, well beyond their coast, to look after, and if need be, to exert its economic and geopolitical interest. That may sound impressive as a theory but does not look realistic in the sea as things stand today.

How many of the contemporary 19 states surrounding the Indian Ocean (which has an area of 24.9 million square miles or almost 75 million square kilometre) and 10 island chains, are “navy-capable” to resort to suo motu non-combat patrol, not to speak of operational deployment

To this author, it does not seem to be more than nine states, whereas the list of littoral states is twice the number thereof.

It would, however, be in order to begin with the history of the geography of the islands of the ocean to understand the importance of the subject. Let us start with Socotra. Located at the mouth of the Red Sea, this island was conquered by the Portuguese in 1505; by the British in 1834 and became British protectorate in 1866.

In 1967, it became part of south Yemen and in 1990 it belonged to unified Yemen. Vasco da Gama landed in Zanzibar in 1499 and the Portuguese established trade outpost in 1503. Sultan of Oman ousted the Portuguese in the 17th century. Although Zanzibar briefly became an independent Sultanate 1856, it soon was occupied by the British 1870 who ruled it till 1963. Zanzibar today is politically united with Tanzania since 1964.

Ninth century onwards Seychelles served as outpost of Arab merchants. In 1502 Vasco da Gama discovered its maritime importance. Anglo-French war made it a British territory in 1811. Since 1976 Seychelles is an independent island nation.

From 800 AD Persian and Arab merchants landed islands of Comoros and Mayotte and introduced Islam resulting in a Sultanate. French made it a protectorate/colony in 1841. Although partial autonomy was granted 1961, independence dawned only in 1975 for the predominantly Muslim Comoros, and the Muslim-Christian Mayotte preferred French administration to this day.

Mauritius too was a settlement base for Malays and Arab merchants since 10th century. The Portuguese arrived in 1507, only to be driven out by the Dutch in 1598. As piracy reached an intolerable stage, the Dutch vacated the island, which first became a “rule of pirates” from 1710 to 1715 to be followed by the French conquest which made it a colony in 1715-1810. But again the British ousted the French and made it a “crown colony” till 1968, when Mauritius attained independence.

Nearer home, Buddhists from India and Sri Lanka settled in Maldives fifth century BC. Around 1150 AD came the Arab merchants who encouraged conversion to Islam and establishment of Sultanate. Thereafter came the brief rule of the Portuguese 1558-1573 in Male (the capital), followed by the Dutch rule in the 17th century and the British rule from 1796 to 1968 when Maldives attained independence.

The Indian islands of Lakshadweep (which constitute a cluster of some 30 islands) finds mention in the works of Egyptian geographer Ptolemy in early 1st/2nd century AD.

The Pallavas (of modern day Tamil Nadu area) ruled over it 680 to 720 AD. Around 1150 AD the Sultans of Maldives conquered and introduced Islam in Lakshadweep.

In the 16th century, the islands were briefly occupied by the Portuguese followed by the conquest thereof by the Muslim kings of Kannur and then Mysore in 1780s. It was only after the British managed to wrest it from the native rulers in 1799 that Lakshadweep became a unit of India post-1947.

In the east, Marathas annexed part of Andaman & Nicobar islands in the 17th century. And in one of the most shocking episodes of the history of India, these islands were first claimed by Denmark in 1756, followed by its becoming an Austrian colony 1778-1784. Subsequently, in 1789 the British East India Company colonised it.

Briefly, however, the Japanese occupied the Andaman & Nicobar islands and transferred sovereignty thereof to the “exile government of Free India” of Subhash Bose in 1943. Today, these strategically sensitive islands constitute the eyes and ears and “out of area” command, control, communications and operations centre of the sovereign India. The idea of giving a brief history of few islands of the ocean was to put across a point — that each and every island state in the sea is vulnerable and fragile as is seen from the pages of history. They cannot, on their own, be in a position to either defend themselves from, or make alliance with, the powerful naval nations. It has to be other way round.

Maritime nations with sound economics and sustainable naval assets (like India) can/should approach them with honourable terms of mutual benefit and political reciprocity/equality to create goodwill first. Gone are the days of the aggressive, marauding, pirate-like psyche and actions of the tiny western nations of mainland Europe which subjugated numerous island territories from Tristan da Cunha to Tahiti, and Socotra to Samoa and indigenous populace thereof.

Coming back to Indian Ocean littoral states, let it clearly be understood that the strongest naval nation today happens to be India, as none of the other nine maritime states like South Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia has the wherewithal of New Delhi navy at this point in time. However, there is a problem, a very big problem. Unlike the Americans and the British, India does not have a single naval overseas base. And without it, mere talk of alliance, stability, “Indian Ocean as a zone of peace” would not take India anywhere to be counted upon.

British ruled owing to its command and control of the strategic geography from Gibraltar to Suez, and Aden to Singapore and Persian Gulf to Cape of Good Hope. Britain still does have the Falkland Islands (in South Atlantic Ocean) over which they went to war with Argentina in 1982. Britain also possess a large number of remote island assets like Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cyprus, St. Helena etc.

The six commands of the USA covers the globe and the fleets thereof are present virtually in the vicinity of every island which matters in the eyes of the USA. Also, China today is expanding its wish list as it acknowledged plans to set up a naval logistics centre in Djibouti which will surely bolster its presence in the Indian Ocean and enhance the out-of-area operational capab

ility. Thus, India just cannot sit back idle and propose stability to fulfil its economic wishlist. No-base in the ocean means no-capability of the navy. That is the history and that is the geography, on which depends the economics of prosperity, especially if the 1.25 billion heads of India want to rise for the sake of its own self along with those whose interests are found to be in common with that of New Delhi.

The author is a graduate of the National Defence College, New Delhi