10-06-2008, 01:49 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Naval experts slam UPA over failure on sailors' release </b>
Pioneer.com
Rajesh Singh | New Delhi
Naval experts have slammed the UPA Government for its failure to secure the release of 18 Indian sailors on board MT Stolt Valor, saying it slept over the crisis for two weeks even as harried family members of the captive sailors cried for action. Analysts also questioned the absence of a cohesive policy or action plan for such crises.Â
The Hong Kong vessel having Japanese owners carrying 23,000 tonnes of oil cargo was hijacked off the coast of Aden on September 15 by Somali pirates. They are demanding a ransom of Rs 6 crore to release the crew.
Experts say the Government should have proactively struck an arrangement with countries whose vessels currently patrol Somali waters and engaged the Somali Government for a long-term role for the Indian Navy in the troubled region. ``If the Government has indeed been doing these things, it has been a well-kept secret,'' one of the experts caustically remarked.
While defence analysts agree that `hot pursuit' was not a workable solution both logistically and diplomatically, they fail to understand the Government's reluctance to adopt other strong measures. Union Defence Minister AK Antony had explained the Centre's inability to do much because it had neither an arrangement with Somalia nor did international laws permit the Indian Navy a unilateral role in foreign waters.
Retired Rear Admiral Ravi Vohra said the Indian Government should have moved the United Nations and demanded to be part of a multi-nation force in the Somali waters. "We should have built diplomatic relations with the Somali Transitional Federal Government that would have helped us immensely in situations we find ourselves in today,'' he said.
Charging the Government with a lackadaisical approach to the crisis, he wondered ``Why are we pussyfooting? We could have either sent our fleet or, if that was logistically not possible, tied up with the existing patrol vessels there to intercept the vessel before it actually entered the Somali waters. Stolt Valor was some 300 nautical miles away from the Somali waters before it was seized.''
He added "we failed to capitalise on the Somalia-piracy specific United Nations Resolution 1816 adopted by the UN Security Council on June 2, 2008, valid for six months. The resolution even provides for direct action by nations whose citizens are victims of hijack provided these were 'co-operating' with the Federal Government there. He demanded answers why had the Government "even three months after this resolution not moved to get the `co-operating' designation that could have helped resolve the present crisis more effectively?''
The UN resolution came in the wake of repeated attacks by pirates off the Somali coast and fully endorsed by the besieged country's Government. The International Maritime Organisation -- of which India is a member -- welcomed the resolution saying it would help fight pirates operating in the region. The International Marine Bureau said 55 ships had been attacked off the Somali coast since January this year, of which nearly a dozen continue to be held for ransom.
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Govt is busy with Orissa and Helicopter ride to Queen from her house to 2 miles in park
Pioneer.com
Rajesh Singh | New Delhi
Naval experts have slammed the UPA Government for its failure to secure the release of 18 Indian sailors on board MT Stolt Valor, saying it slept over the crisis for two weeks even as harried family members of the captive sailors cried for action. Analysts also questioned the absence of a cohesive policy or action plan for such crises.Â
The Hong Kong vessel having Japanese owners carrying 23,000 tonnes of oil cargo was hijacked off the coast of Aden on September 15 by Somali pirates. They are demanding a ransom of Rs 6 crore to release the crew.
Experts say the Government should have proactively struck an arrangement with countries whose vessels currently patrol Somali waters and engaged the Somali Government for a long-term role for the Indian Navy in the troubled region. ``If the Government has indeed been doing these things, it has been a well-kept secret,'' one of the experts caustically remarked.
While defence analysts agree that `hot pursuit' was not a workable solution both logistically and diplomatically, they fail to understand the Government's reluctance to adopt other strong measures. Union Defence Minister AK Antony had explained the Centre's inability to do much because it had neither an arrangement with Somalia nor did international laws permit the Indian Navy a unilateral role in foreign waters.
Retired Rear Admiral Ravi Vohra said the Indian Government should have moved the United Nations and demanded to be part of a multi-nation force in the Somali waters. "We should have built diplomatic relations with the Somali Transitional Federal Government that would have helped us immensely in situations we find ourselves in today,'' he said.
Charging the Government with a lackadaisical approach to the crisis, he wondered ``Why are we pussyfooting? We could have either sent our fleet or, if that was logistically not possible, tied up with the existing patrol vessels there to intercept the vessel before it actually entered the Somali waters. Stolt Valor was some 300 nautical miles away from the Somali waters before it was seized.''
He added "we failed to capitalise on the Somalia-piracy specific United Nations Resolution 1816 adopted by the UN Security Council on June 2, 2008, valid for six months. The resolution even provides for direct action by nations whose citizens are victims of hijack provided these were 'co-operating' with the Federal Government there. He demanded answers why had the Government "even three months after this resolution not moved to get the `co-operating' designation that could have helped resolve the present crisis more effectively?''
The UN resolution came in the wake of repeated attacks by pirates off the Somali coast and fully endorsed by the besieged country's Government. The International Maritime Organisation -- of which India is a member -- welcomed the resolution saying it would help fight pirates operating in the region. The International Marine Bureau said 55 ships had been attacked off the Somali coast since January this year, of which nearly a dozen continue to be held for ransom.
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Govt is busy with Orissa and Helicopter ride to Queen from her house to 2 miles in park