The Hindu : India begins patrolling Malacca Straits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 20, 2002

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India begins patrolling Malacca Straits

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 19. India has started `trial' patrolling of the strategic Malacca Straits through which cargo worth around $500 billion is transported annually. A Navy offshore patrol vessel joined the U.S.-led patrolling effort, aimed mainly at surveillance and deterrence, in the middle of this month after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared the proposal in February.

After analysing the experience gained from this `pilot' patrolling, Indian warships are expected to patrol the area from the Andaman sea end where the armed forces have already set up a unified command headed by a naval officer.

The U.S. ships from the Seventh Fleet will approach the area from the Japanese side.

The patrolling would be jointly monitored by the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral S. V. Gopalachari, and the Seventh Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral James Wallace Metzger.

The two officials had detailed discussions on the subject during the Indo-U.S. Navy-level talks held in Chennai earlier this year.

Efforts to draw India into the American security loop began immediately after the September 11 strikes. The beginning was made by reviving the Defence Policy Group (DPG) last year.

The DPG is the institutional mechanism to promote closer military ties and is headed by top civilian officials from the Defence Ministries of both countries. It was followed by a meeting of the three Service-level executive steering groups. The involvement of the Navy signifies its coming of age in the region. The Malacca Straits is encompassed by Sumatra on one side and Malaysia on the other.

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