India is a net security provider in Indian Ocean, but we must take into account ground realities, says Jaishankar

“India IS a net security provider in the Indian Ocean. But we also have to take into account the (prevalent) ground or the water situation,” that’s how India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar responded in his first comments on the sinking of an Iranian ship off Sri Lankan waters by an American submarine.

On the docking of another Iranian vessel in Kochi, the minister said, “We got a message from the Iranian side wanting to come to our port. This was on the 28th. We gave the permission. They docked in Kochi in a few days. The sailors on the ship are young cadets who have disembarked and are at a nearby facility. When these ships came here the situation was totally different. They were coming in a fleet review. Then they got caught on the wrong side of events. It was a humane thing to do. The other ship was heading to Sri Lanka. They unfortunately didn’t make it. We took a decision based on humanity and we think it’s the right thing.”

At a panel on the ‘Future of the Indian Ocean’, attended by a packed audience reflecting the topicality of the conversation, moderator Palki Sharma asked the minister his reaction to the ship that was returning after taking part in a maritime exercise hosted by India getting torpedoed in waters adjacent to Sri Lanka — in an ocean named after India and in a region that India considers its “backyard” — and what it means for India’s position as the ‘net security provider’ in the region.

“There’s a lot of social media debate going on about this,” quipped Jaishankar in his tart reply, adding, “Social media by its very nature is a forum for sharp, angular, sometimes extreme expression of views. But we also have to understand the reality of the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia has been in the Indian Ocean for the last five decades. It’s not something that happened last week or last month. Foreign forces have occupied Djibouti since the first decade of this century. Hambantota came up during this period. So… the Indian Ocean is not limited only to the countries of the Indian Ocean,” said the minister.

Expanding on the reply later, he added, “India has a particular salience when it comes to the Indian Ocean and therefore a particular responsibility and a particular contribution. It’s not just because we are big and central.

“We also have the ability to bring countries to the table because we have good relations with them. Perhaps they trust us more. The fact that the fusion centre in Gurugram (IOR Information Fusion Centre) has so many people, so many countries, so many representatives willing to work together says something about the Indian Ocean and says something about us.”

“These institutions we are building — IORA, BIMSTEC, Colombo Security Council, etc — are the building blocks for a larger composite picture.

“Beyond that, it is also the bilaterals — Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. With their navies and their coast guards, we have a long history of working together. And not just them. If you look at the exercises of the Indian Ocean or the Indo-Pacific, you see the Indian Navy pretty much in every one of them.

“One part is the presence, the other is working together. So we actually, practically help. We help in countering the flow of drugs, deal with fishing issues, HADR situations and oil spills.

“Yes, we are a ‘net security provider’ in the Indian Ocean, but that cannot obviate or overwrite the realities of the region. It is a region where countries other than those of the region are present in a maritime form,” said the minister.

His comments, however, indicated the discomfort in the Indian government over the unsavoury incident and came on the back of remarks made by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on the panel, who repeatedly referred to UNCLOS and international laws when asked to comment on the issue.

Jaishankar also evoked UNCLOS, underlined India’s position on it, and stressed that New Delhi has in the past abided by the laws even when the rulings went against it. It was clear that that was as far as he would go in referring to the American submarine’s combat operation.

Jaishankar also pointed out that attacks on merchant ships put the lives of Indian nationals in danger because many of these tankers and merchant ships that traverse international waters for commerce are manned by Indians.

“When we look today at what is going on (referring to Iran’s attacks on merchant vessels and tankers), we should also give a lot of weight to the fact that these are our people involved out there. We’ve had fatalities in the last few days. Indian nationals have died in two tankers that were attacked. A lot of our approach to the crisis is driven by the fact that we have a community of 9–10 million people residing in the Gulf. Their well-being is a factor.

“In the last two years, when the Houthis were busy attacking shipping, we deployed our navy in the northern Arabian Sea in coordination with the Americans.”