India’s “Look East” policy, which seeks to engage the nations of East Asia economically, has a security dimension that has extended India’s naval horizons and its maritime partnerships. This has been somewhat of a departure for India, which until now has considered its core interests as being within the Indian Ocean. This viewpoint, though, is changing and the Indian Navy is leading the charge.
India is actively developing partnerships with Southeast Asian navies. India and Malaysia are planning more extensive cooperation on the maintenance and operations of their French-origin Scorpene submarines.25 Indonesia and India are developing a maritime
partner-21 Steven J. Forsberg. “India Stretches Its Sea Legs.” Proceedings 133, No. 3 (March 2007): 38–43.
22 Sudha Ramachandran. “Delhi All Ears in the Indian Ocean.” Asia Times, 3 March 2006. Accessed 17 June 2014, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/
HC03Df02.html.
23 Ibid.
24 Bowditch et al. A U.S. Navy-Indian Navy Partnership, 50.
25 P. S. Suryanarayana. “India, Malaysia to Step Up Defence Ties.” The Hindu, 8 January 2008. Accessed 18 October 2011. www.hindu.com/2008/01/08/
stories/2008010856131200.htm.
Chapter 3 India’s Extending Naval Horizons and Partnerships
ship that includes enhanced cooperation in capacity building, technical assistance and information sharing between the agencies responsible for their respective EEZs.26 The Indian and Singapore navies, likewise, have been conducting the SIMBEX exercise since 1994.
India and Vietnam have developed an even broader strategic rela-tionship, of which naval cooperation is a key component. During the October 2011 visit of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to India, the two countries signed an agreement to promote oil exploration in the South China Sea. The pact between the Indian and Vietnamese state-owned oil companies includes new investments and the exploration and supply of oil and gas to the two countries.27 This is a contentious issue because China claims the areas that Vietnam and India have identified for oil exploration.
Vietnam and India have a long-standing cooperation in oil and gas exploration. Specifically, India’s state-owned oil company, ONCG Videsh Limited, and Vietnam’s Petro-Vietnam have had a joint venture for oil exploration in Vietnam’s territorial waters and EEZs since 1992.28 India and Vietnam’s shared maritime economic interests have evolved into a maritime security partnership. India has agreed to provide help to Vietnam in its capacity building for repair and maintenance of its plat-forms, including its submarines. For its part, Vietnam has made available maintenance and repair facilities at Vietnamese ports to Indian vessels.29 In addition, the Indian Navy has been making port visits to Vietnam since 2001, including the 2011 visit by INS Airavat, which occasioned
26 “Joint Declaration between the Republic of India and the Republic of Indonesia.”
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, 25 November 2005. Accessed 17 June 2014. http://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/7067/ Joint+Declara tion+between+the+Republic+of+India+and+ the+Republic+of+Indonesia.
27 “India, Vietnam Sign Pact for Oil Exploration in South China Sea.” The Hindu, 13 October 2011. Accessed 4 November 2011. www.thehindu.com/news/national/
article2532311.ece.
28 S. D. Muni. “The Turbulent South China Sea Waters: India, Vietnam, and China.”
ISAS Insights 140, 11 October 2011: 8. Accessed 17 June 2014. http://www.isas.
nus.edu.sg/Attachments/PublisherAttachment/ISAS_Insights_140_-_The_
Turbulent_South-China_Sea_Waters_13102011121226.pdf.
29 Sitanshu Kar. “India and Vietnam to Expand Defence Cooperation Covering All Three Services.” Press Information Bureau, Government of India, 13 October 2010. Accessed 20 October 2011. pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=66302.
RSIS Monograph No. 32 Navigating the Indo-Pacific Arc
the reported warning by Chinese authorities that the ship was in China’s waters.
India is establishing maritime partnerships with key countries in Northeast Asia. India and Japan have converging interests in that the economies of both countries are dependent on energy supplies that transit the Indian Ocean ISLs. Over the past few years, the two countries have been developing a closer bilateral relationship, including bilateral naval exercises to enhance cooperation and core capabilities for maritime operation and disaster relief, multilateral naval exercises as and when possible, passing exercises and navy-to-navy staff talks.30 Japan and India have conducted joint counter-piracy patrols around the Malacca Strait.31 New Delhi and Tokyo held their fifth round of strategic dialogue in 2011, with maritime security and securing of the sea lanes topping the agenda.32 Furthermore, the Japanese and Indian defence ministers met in Tokyo in November 2011, and some of the issues that dominated the meeting were maritime security, anti-piracy measures, freedom of navigation, and the maintenance of the security of sea lines of communication (SLOCs) to facilitate unhindered trade through the sea routes.33
India has a less well-developed relationship with the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.). Nevertheless, the fact that these two emerging—yet geo-graphically separated—powers are finding common ground on maritime
30 “Action Plan to Advance Security Cooperation Based on the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation.” Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, 29 December 2009. Accessed 20 October 2011. www.mea.gov.in/mystart.
php?id=530515442.
31 Sandhya Sharma. “India, Japan to Conduct First Ever Bilateral Naval Exercise Next Year.” The Pioneer, 11 October 2011. Accessed 17 June 2014. http://archive.
dailypioneer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12352:in dia-japan-to-conduct-first-ever-bilateral-naval-exercise-next-year&catid=295:nat ion&Itemid=543.
32 “Indo-Japan Dialogue on Maritime Security.” The Pioneer, 26 October 2011.
Accessed 19 June 2014. http://archive.dailypioneer.com/index.php?option=com_
k2&view=item&id=44262:indo-japan-dialogue-on-maritime-security. See also,
“Fifth Japan-India Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue (Overview).” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 29 October 2011. Accessed 28 March 2012. www.mofa.
go.jp/region/asia-paci/india/meeting1110_2.html.
33 K. V. Prasad. “India, Japan to Step Up Defence Cooperation.” The Hindu, 3 November 2011. Accessed 17 June 2014. http://www.thehindu.com/news/
international/india-japan-to-step-up-defence-cooperation/article2593792.ece.
Chapter 3 India’s Extending Naval Horizons and Partnerships
security issues is notable. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed on the need for greater cooperation between their respective navies and coastguards in areas pertaining to the safety and security of international maritime traffic.34 In 2010, India and South Korea signed two MOUs, which included provisions for SLOC security and cooperation between like-minded countries working together in the Gulf of Aden.35
India has critical economic and security interests in East Asia. These interests were first evidenced by India’s Look East policy and now are underscored by its developing maritime partnerships and naval interac-tions in the region.