India will send five times as many boats into the Arabian Sea to fight piracy than it did last year because attacks are becoming more likely.
Senior Indian officials, who did not want to be named because they were talking about private matters, said that at least a dozen boats will patrol the vast waters.
Following a chemical tanker being hit by an unknown object near Indian seas in December, the South Asian country sent five more warships to the area, up from two before. India’s marine forces jumped on a cargo carrier that had been taken over on Friday to save the ship and its crew.
India wants to be seen as the main security partner for countries in the Arabian Sea, which is where about 40% of the world’s oil travels. This move to have more boats there fits with that strategy.
Five places in the Indian Ocean, from the Gulf of Aden in the west to the Malacca Strait in the east, are always guarded by Indian warships. As fears about China’s growing naval power grow, its navy is patrolling the Indian Ocean with more warships than ever before.
However, New Delhi still doesn’t want to officially join the US-led coalition of 20 naval countries fighting the Houthi militants in Yemen in the Red Sea. The United States says that Iran is helping the rebels. India and Iran have a long history together. Another thing is that India has only joined coalitions that are run by the UN.
People say that New Delhi also thinks that since the US-led alliance is working in the Red Sea, stepping up operations against piracy in the Arabian Sea would help protect trade in the area as a whole.
India was carefully looking at everything going on in the region and its “defense forces are taking necessary measures,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters when asked if India would join the US-led operation in December.
Attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea are making it harder for India to trade. Some figures say that India’s exports will lose about $30 billion this fiscal year.
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