The Manmohan Singh government has presented it as a fait accompli for the next Indian government to go ahead with the decision of inviting Japan in the revived multilateral Malabar naval exercise, a decision of far reaching strategic significance. If the coming Indian leadership shows guts, the trilateral Malabar may prove to be a game changer in India’s maritime military engagement. On the sea bed of the trilateral maritime exercise the three nations can build… Read More »Malabar Exercise

Bidur Thapa remembers the day six years ago when he came to Nepal as a refugee from Bhutan. He struggled to understand the culture and language of his new land as most Bhutanese are unfamiliar with Nepalese way of life. Six years into the resettlement of tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees to third countries from camps in Nepal, experts say there are lessons from the operation that can inform similar efforts around the world.… Read More »Bhutanese Refugees

Anti-submarine warfare is a multi-layered activity. There is the submarine-submarine killer (SSK) level where one predator is in constant search for similar predators below the surface of the oceans. The other is surface vessels fitted with sonar as integral equipment supplemented by helicopters armed with dipping or “dunking” listening devices and ready-to-use torpedoes, and the third is the long-range fixed-wing aircraft fitted with a “sting in the tail” magnetic anomaly detector that indicates the presence… Read More »ASW capabilities

Pirates are increasingly getting assertive in Gulf of Guinea Since the global attention is turning towards Africa and its resource rich regions, the number of pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean region and Gulf of Guinea could double next year if governments do not act to protect off-shore assets. There have been over 360 attacks on merchant shipping this year, and without action by West African governments this could rise to over 700 incidents in… Read More »Floating Enemies

Pakistan’s changing LoC strategy A review of the recent Pakistani feverish attempts at infiltration not just along the Line of Control but also the international border reveals a trend that is dangerous for Indian deployment against both Pakistan. In one case the Pakistani took advantage of a change of guard, a routine replacement operation when one battalion or unit replaces the one in situ for administrative reasons. At another, low morale and failure to observe… Read More »Dangerous shift

Growing need for anti submarine warfare capability With the arrival of three of the 12 Poseidon P-8I maritime reconnaissance and strike aircraft, the Indian Navy would be closing gaps in its ability to trace and track both inimical surface threats as well the lurking danger of submarines in the vastness of the Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea-Bay of Bengal region. The very scale of the requirement of surveillance of such huge stretches of water is daunting and… Read More »Tactical surveillance

The trilateral maritime security agreement Maldives and Sri Lanka, eyed by China and other world military powers because of their significant geopolitical locations, have entered into a trilateral cooperation with India on Maritime Security of far reaching importance. China has adopted Sri Lanka as one of the gems in its String of Pearls strategy to mark its strong presence in the Indian Ocean and encircle and contain India. And recently China has deepened its strategic… Read More »Bolstering Foothold

Requirements of OPV and frigates To be able to gauge the number of offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and frigates, India will require in the second quarter of the 21st century -2025 to 2050- an appreciation of the relative roles of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. This will have to be made on the basis of a blue-water and brown-water categorization of their respective jurisdictions. At the moment the entire maritime defence is… Read More »Coastal Vigil

Strategic importance of Gulf of Aden and prospects of maritime trade Incidents of maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden have posed a significant strategic challenge for the security of global trade. Despite a reduction in rampant pirate attacks in the ‘pirate-alley’ last year, the challenge is far from over. Piracy will remain a recurrent problem till the root cause of the problem is not tackled. When piracy became rampant in 2008, flag states and… Read More »Playground of Pirates