There’s a need for cooperation among countries to tackle maritime challenges, which are transnational and cannot be addressed individually by any one nation, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Saturday. He was speaking at a panel discussion —The Future of Conflict: Lessons from the Third Decade — with Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander, US Indo-Pacific Command of the United States, Adm. Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, UK, Gen. Koji Yamazaki, Japan’s Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Defence, and Vice Adm. Angus Topshee, Commander, Royal Canadian Navy. His comments came a day after foreign ministers of Quad countries together called for peace in Ukraine and spoke about China’s aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region and its attempts to block designation of terrorists at the UN. Talking about the importance of working together in groups, Admiral Kumar said the US Navy in 2015 had talked of a 1,000-ship Navy, which would include all friendly partner navies. “That is something we in the maritime domain always look forward to, to find how to cooperate and work together,” he said. Admiral Kumar said at present, countries and their navies are looking at issue-based converges, so there may be agreement on certain things but not necessarily on others. Talking about groupings such as the Indian Ocean National Symposium, which has 25 partner countries and eight observers, the Columbo Security Conclave, Goa Maritime Conclave and others, the Navy Chief said working in smaller groups serves multiple purposes. “It generates a lot of trust among partner countries. You work towards building capacity, it results in increased interoperability, better domain awareness and regular engagements. All these finally lead to maritime security,” he said. He added that there is a saying that rising tide lifts all boats. “So India as a country looks at everybody in the region prospering together,” he said.
