Navies of 35 nations to work out anti-piracy plan

The IONS-2010,the second conclave of the Navy Chiefs of nations from the region including Pakistan,would take place between May 10 and 12 when the mantle of leadership of the naval grouping would pass on to UAE Navy Chief from Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma for a two-year tenure.

“The IONS-2010 will discuss efficiency in anti-piracy operations (in the Gulf of Aden) where the expertise gained by the navies in countering piracy threat will be shared and other means of tackling the menace will be worked out,” Navy’s Assistant Chief (Foreign Cooperation and Intelligence),Rear Admiral Sudharshan Shrikhande told reporters here today.

This will be the first time the two-year-old grouping would discuss the threat from the sea brigands,”as piracy was not a major issue in the region” when IONS met for its inaugural session in February 2008.

“The meet will discuss means to combine the capacities of the 35 Navies,including Somalia which is a member,and also debate what the Navies wanted to do and how to do it (in anti-piracy efforts),” he added.

Asked if the discussions in Abu Dhabi would lead to the formation of an Indian Ocean Region Task Force (IONTF) on the lines of European task force and the US-led Combined Task force,Shrikhande said it was a futuristic proposition and since it was the first time the topic was being debated by the grouping,it could take some time before any plans could take a concrete shape.

He said IONS-2010 would also debate technical expertise sharing,intelligence and information sharing among the Navies of the Indian Ocean Region,apart from cooperation in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).

Among the topics IONS-2010 would discuss include ‘Reinforcement of Regional stability and establishment of good order at sea’,’Cooperative efforts to enhance maritime security including threats,risks and vulnerabilities’,’Common maritime security strategy’,and ‘Regional capacity building and capability enhancement’.

On the possibility of US,UK and Japan showing keen interest in joining IONS,Shrikhande said the three nations had applied recently for observer status and the applications would be taken up by the Abu Dhabi meet for a decision. China,however,had not applied for either membership or observer status,he said.