Navy Chief Raises Alarm: Fragile Situation Unfolding In The South China Sea

Admiral R Hari Kumar said Wednesday that there is a clear and present danger to order at sea because of the weak security situation in the South China Sea and the fact that set Codes of Conduct or Confidence Building Measures are being broken.

He said at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) that the Indo-Pacific is the most militarized region in the world, which makes it even more likely that the competition will turn into a war. The Navy and the National Maritime Foundation both put on the show.

“Because of more multinational forces and different interpretations of international law, there is fear that the Region’s “global commons” could turn into contested seas,” the Navy Chief said.

He said that there are still more than 50 boats from outside the region in the Indian Ocean Region doing different jobs, like patrolling the waters around the Gulf of Aden to look out for pirates. He also said that there are a lot of ships in the wider Indo-Pacific region.

He used two recent events to show how this kind of fighting at sea can affect security by making it harder to trade and connect with other ships. He was talking about the time that the MV Ever Green blocked the Suez Canal in 2021 and the time that the war in Europe had problems with shipping lanes in the Black Sea.

Government sources also said that the Indian Navy has been closely monitoring the movements of Chinese warships and a submarine that are taking part in a military exercise with Pakistan. The two navies started a big naval drill in the Arabian Sea, which included their first patrol together at sea.

Sources say that the Indian Navy keeps a close eye on all moves in the Indian Ocean Region to protect national security. This is part of their “comprehensive maritime domain awareness.”

Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, said at the event that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was good for everyone. However, she also said that it comes with some geopolitical problems, such as the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza, which is a cause for concern.

She said that the IMEC would make shipping more efficient, cut down on logistics costs, bring the economy together, create jobs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

“It is a multimodal economic corridor that includes multiple networks of roads, railways, and ships,” she said. “It will also have electricity cables, high-speed data cables, and a hydrogen pipeline.”

She said that the project would link Indian ports like the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Mundra (Gujarat), and Kandla (Gujarat) to Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, as well as the ports of Dammam, Ras Al Khair, and Ghuwaifat in Saudi Arabia. It would also include a rail segment that would continue the IMEC and link the cities of Haradh and Al Haditha in Saudi Arabia, as well as the port of Haifa in Israel.