Chief of Naval Staff Sunil Lanba with Iranian Navy Chief Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi

A standing force of the IONS members is being mulled to look after maritime security in the region, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said at the conference

by Manu Pubby

KOCHI: Big ideas are on the table as an Indian initiated forum of regional navies turns 10, including exploring the possibility of raising a standing force of nations to look after maritime security and moving ahead with joint exercises to address common challenges like humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), which met for its tenth anniversary celebrations here – an event that was attended by 26 regional and global navies – has been looking for ways to assuming a larger role for cooperation among the littoral states of the Indian Ocean.

While a broad view, as expressed by many including the Iranian Navy chief Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, has been that extra regional forces are not needed to maintain peace and stability in the region, member states have put suggestions on the table that would require a significant effort to attain consensus.

Beyond a common charter to mitigate common threats like non state actors and calamities, the forum is considering a suggestion that a standing force of the IONS members be raised that could look after maritime security in the region. While this seems like an ambitious goal, a group is to be set up to look at the ‘need and necessity’ of setting up such a standing force, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said at the conference.

The other plan on the table is to move to a full-scale exercise based on humanitarian relief operations that could see the participation of several members states. While there has been interest in such an event, resource crunch could hold back several navies from participating. Another suggestion made at the conference is to find common grounds for training of personnel under the IONS initiative.

While the forum has been active for a decade with a rotating chairmanship – Iran currently leads it – decision making is complicated as all moves have to be unanimously approved by member states. This has been the reason, for example, for the exclusion of the US from the forum, on the consistent negative vote of Iran. Another member, Pakistan, did not participate at the tenth anniversary celebrations.

India, which is setting up a new centre for monitoring commercial traffic in the Indian Ocean Region, has also invited member states of IONS to participate and receive information for keeping track of vessel movements.

The Indian Ocean Region Information Fusion Centre (IOR-IFC) is being inaugurated next month and will gather information on merchant shipping from 18 nations in the region that can be shared with ‘like minded’ states. The idea being to have actionable information at hand in case of any threat to regional security.

The IONS Initiative

Regional maritime security initiative launched by India in February 2008 to attain collectively beneficial maritime security outcomes within the Indian Ocean

Has 23 nations that hold territory in the region and 9 observer nations that have an interest in the region

Members

South Asian Littorals: Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Pakistan, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka and the UK (British Indian Ocean Territory)

West Asian Littorals: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

East African Littorals: France (Reunion), Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania.

South East Asian and Australian Littorals: Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

Observers

China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain.