02-18-2008, 09:05 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Oceanâs India</b>
Thursday, February 14, 2008
<b>Indian Navy promotes a genuine maritime multilateralism in the region.</b>
The Indian Express: This week India hosts naval chiefs from around the Indian Ocean. The first meeting of what is being called the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium marks the maturation of the navy as an important tool of this countryâs regional security strategy.
It also underlines Indiaâs recognition of its enlightened self-interest in promoting multilateral approaches to Indian Ocean security. After decades of being a âlone rangerâ, it is now ready to build a cooperative security framework in the region.
New Delhiâs earlier efforts, in the 1970s and 1980s, to promote a regional approach to littoral security were defined by an unrealistic slogan â the âIndian Ocean as a zone of peaceâ.
Indiaâs demand that âextra-regionalâ navies should withdraw from the Indian Ocean was met with hostility from the great powers and cynicism from our neighbours. Both believed the slogan was too thin a veil over New Delhiâs perceived ambition to convert the Indian Ocean into âIndiaâs Oceanâ.
Indiaâs military isolation in the name of non-alignment reinforced the opaqueness of its maritime intentions. Indiaâs argument that throwing out extra-regional powers would lead to peace and stability was fundamentally flawed. Great powers have stakes in far corners of the world, as a rising China and India are beginning to discover now, and there were no dearth of regional rivalries in the Indian Ocean.
Since the end of the Cold War, Indiaâs bilateral and multilateral naval exercises with a large number of neighbours and great powers have helped reduce the misperceptions about Indiaâs maritime intentions and raise the regional awareness of the navyâs capacity to contribute to peace and security in the Indian Ocean littoral.
The IONS marks the next step, in which India has taken the leadership to promote a genuine maritime multilateralism in the region.
This initiative comes amidst the rapidly expanding geopolitical significance of the Indian Ocean. The value of the Persian Gulfâs hydrocarbons and Africaâs mineral resources to the rest of the world has gone up steeply. Safe shipment of these resources to consumers around the world has become a major international security concern.
The Indian navy, which sits on top of these vital sea-lanes, must inevitably play a large role in promoting the maritime public goods in the Indian Ocean. The message from New Delhi this week is simple: India is ready to undertake its new maritime responsibilities in cooperation with the rest of the region.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thursday, February 14, 2008
<b>Indian Navy promotes a genuine maritime multilateralism in the region.</b>
The Indian Express: This week India hosts naval chiefs from around the Indian Ocean. The first meeting of what is being called the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium marks the maturation of the navy as an important tool of this countryâs regional security strategy.
It also underlines Indiaâs recognition of its enlightened self-interest in promoting multilateral approaches to Indian Ocean security. After decades of being a âlone rangerâ, it is now ready to build a cooperative security framework in the region.
New Delhiâs earlier efforts, in the 1970s and 1980s, to promote a regional approach to littoral security were defined by an unrealistic slogan â the âIndian Ocean as a zone of peaceâ.
Indiaâs demand that âextra-regionalâ navies should withdraw from the Indian Ocean was met with hostility from the great powers and cynicism from our neighbours. Both believed the slogan was too thin a veil over New Delhiâs perceived ambition to convert the Indian Ocean into âIndiaâs Oceanâ.
Indiaâs military isolation in the name of non-alignment reinforced the opaqueness of its maritime intentions. Indiaâs argument that throwing out extra-regional powers would lead to peace and stability was fundamentally flawed. Great powers have stakes in far corners of the world, as a rising China and India are beginning to discover now, and there were no dearth of regional rivalries in the Indian Ocean.
Since the end of the Cold War, Indiaâs bilateral and multilateral naval exercises with a large number of neighbours and great powers have helped reduce the misperceptions about Indiaâs maritime intentions and raise the regional awareness of the navyâs capacity to contribute to peace and security in the Indian Ocean littoral.
The IONS marks the next step, in which India has taken the leadership to promote a genuine maritime multilateralism in the region.
This initiative comes amidst the rapidly expanding geopolitical significance of the Indian Ocean. The value of the Persian Gulfâs hydrocarbons and Africaâs mineral resources to the rest of the world has gone up steeply. Safe shipment of these resources to consumers around the world has become a major international security concern.
The Indian navy, which sits on top of these vital sea-lanes, must inevitably play a large role in promoting the maritime public goods in the Indian Ocean. The message from New Delhi this week is simple: India is ready to undertake its new maritime responsibilities in cooperation with the rest of the region.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->