EU woos India for piracy battle

[RPK]

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EU woos India for piracy battle


Northwood Headquarters, UK, April 22: Trophies from a war waged 30 years back decorate the Falklands Room in the officers’ mess of this military establishment of the UK just outside London.

Thirty years after that war in the South Atlantic, Northwood Headquarters is directing another overseas military mission, this time for the European Union, in the Indian Ocean.

The European Union is asking India to put its navy on board a new “forward from the seas” policy.

The new policy authorises warships and aircraft to bomb suspected pirate bases on Somalia’s coast.

“We now have permission to isolate pirates’ logistics sites,” said Admiral Duncan L. Potts, commander of Operation Atalanta — the name for the EU naval mission in the Indian Ocean.

In Brussels, at the headquarters of the European Union, the chief of the EU Military Staff, Lt Gen. Ton Van Osch, said: “I now have the political mandate to engage India.”

The changed rules of engagement in the counter-piracy war, the political mandate to militaries and the outreach to India come at a time the eurozone crisis has made it difficult for western European nations to sustain and underwrite the costs of long-distance armed conflict, even if that is to be waged against desperadoes from one of the world’s poorest countries, Somalia.

The EU is seeking Indian involvement in aerial surveillance, and for Autonomous Vessel Protection Detachments (AVPDs, or armed guards on board ships) and replenishments. The outreach to India is part of an EU programme under its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

“I know that in India the EU is seen as a trade bloc. But, in the end, the EU is a political project, not an economic project,” said David ’Sullivan, chief operations officer of the EU’s External Action Service, its foreign relations wing. The EU is also seeking deeper collaboration in counter-terrorism and cyber security.

But it is the naval mission on India’s western seaboard that the EU has prioritised for a military collaboration.

Operation Atalanta is being directed from Northwood Headquarters. In the 30 years since Operation Corporate — as the UK called its mission to free the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean of Argentine occupation in 1982 — Northwood Headquarters itself has changed.

The base, used for overseas operations of the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Joint Staff, Nato and the European Union, now accommodates an international staff.

At the MSCHOA (Maritime Security Centre for the Horn of Africa), the naval team is peopled by naval personnel from countries across Europe — not all of them EU member-states — each with the flag of his/her country next to desktop computers that track ships and aircraft in the Indian Ocean in real-time from so many thousands of miles away.

The EU’s military staff say there is room for the Indian Tricolour.

Operationally, an Indian warship that has been escorting Indian convoys in the Gulf of Aden for four years now co-ordinates its movements with the EUNAVFOR (European Naval Force).

There is operational co-ordination between the Indian Navy and the Chinese navy, as there is with a Nato force.

The big difference in the EU’s invitation to India for closer co-operation now is in the changed rules of engagement (RoE) that it has given to its multinational naval deployment. So far restricted to escorting UN food programme vessels and deterring pirates at sea, the EU warships under Operation Atalanta were last month authorised to attack suspected pirate bases on Somalia’s coastline.

This they will do by firing from ships and from aircraft (likely to be ship-borne helicopters) but without putting “boots on the ground” — landing troops on the African country’s beaches.

The new RoE have not yet been in evidence. There is concern that they will lead to greater “collateral (civilian) damage”.

The new RoE are an extension of America’s concept for its navy in 21st-century warfare, summed up in a doctrine called “Forward... from the seas.”

“We have 2.4 million square miles of (the Indian) ocean to protect. The pirates attack at sea but piracy originates on land. These are sophisticated gangsters and criminals. We have permission to isolate logistics sites on shore. Our mission is intrinsically an ‘economy of effort’ operation,” said Adm. Potts, who commands Operation Atalanta.

He said that between January and March this year, India, China and Japan had shared intelligence with EUNAVFOR through an inter-agency outfit in the Seychelles.

In New Delhi, senior navy officers acknowledge the importance of deterring pirates on land. But they add that the new RoE for the EU warships are sensitive and fraught with consequences for civilians unless backed by sharp intelligence.

For more than a decade, Somalia has been without an effective centralised administration. The EU is supporting a transitional government militarily by training its soldiers in Uganda before sending them back home.

Indian officials worry about the impact of offensive military action in a continent where New Delhi has huge stakes and where it is competing with China for strategic space.

New Delhi is also sticking to its policy of deploying its military overseas only under the UN blue flag. The anti-piracy mission has a UN mandate but there is no UN force.

But Indian Navy officers admit that piracy originating in Somalia is getting dangerously close to home.

Indian defence sources are also sceptical of operations inside Somalia though they admit that piracy threatens to take a heavy toll on Indian lives and businesses.

In 1994, India sent about 4,500 soldiers into Somalia and a naval task force to patrol the waters off Mogadishu under UNOSOM II (United Nations Operations in Somalia). UNOSOM II was touted as a humanitarian mission with mostly US military escort.

It failed — its failure immortalised in the Hollywood film Black Hawk Down, based on an incident in which Somali militia shot down an American helicopter and dragged the bodies of the US soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu.

The Indian Army understood better than the Americans that the militia in Somalia operate on the basis of clans and tribes.

(The correspondent was recently in Brussels, Paris and London at the invitation of the EU for briefings on its security and defence policy)

[Abingdonboy]

This is a pretty interesting development, India attacking land bases in Somalia would be a pretty significant event (as far as India's history in humanitarian work is concerned).

[Supply&Demand]

I think India should do a military operation on the suspected pirate nests..but for that we need better intelligence.

Indian officials worry about the impact of offensive military action in a continent where New Delhi has huge stakes and where it is competing with China for strategic space.

This is pure BS thinking..Infact many countries would welcome this for removing this garbage from their continent.
And also it would prove to many countries who want to wean away from Chinese neo-colonialism that India would back them if necessary.

[RPK]

IBNLive : Surya Gangadharan's Blog : India may be part of Operation Restore Hope-2 in Somalia


Nineteen years after the failed attempt to restore hope in Somalia, it appears the West is getting ready for another crack at Africa's Horn. The EU Naval Force tasked with anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden has had its mandate extended to cover "Somali coastal territory and internal waters". This ends the policy of "no boots on the ground" in Somalia, opening the door to land and air strikes on pirate camps, transport and logistics.

Top Indian Navy officers, just back from the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in South Africa, confirmed the development, one of them indicating that intervention is perhaps the only long-term and permanent solution left for the international community.

South Block is yet to formulate a response but with Somalia's transitional government agreeable to the European initiative, India, it would seem, could go in for similar fig leaf in the event a decision on intervention has to be made.

It won't be the first time. In 1993, India sent a brigade to Baidoa in southern Somalia under Brig. (later Lt Gen) Mono Bhagat as part of the UN peacekeeping force. The force set some records in terms of finding weapons caches and bringing a semblance of order in the area. But they did suffer casualties and when Operation Restore Hope was shut down after the downing of a US military Black Hawk helicopter, the brigade withdrew.

Somalia then returned to its chaotic state and in course of time evolved into a bastion of piracy. Although the total number of pirate attacks have fallen, the pirate industry in Somalia is adapting to the challenges posed by increased naval patrols and aerial surveillance. Pirate "Mother ships" as they are called, are venturing out of the Gulf of Aden, entering the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. They are changing tactics, using mass attacks by speedboats to overwhelm and capture merchant vessels.

In response, the Indian Navy has stepped up the scale of its own deployment. While operating independently in the Gulf of Aden, it is also scheduling its patrols with those of Japan and China to ensure 24x7 naval presence. In the Arabian Sea and the waters off the Andaman islands, Indian Navy patrols have doubled while the aerial surveillance is now at 100 per cent. (A sidelight to this is India's unhappiness with international insurers charging sky high rates for transit through waters close to India. It adds to the cost of India's maritime trade and is a reflection on the Indian Navy's effectiveness.)

Clearly India will bide its time. But the EU has fired the first shot. The US is probably on board but may prefer to keep a low profile for now. Somalia's neighbours are already involved. Ethiopia has troops in Somalia while Kenya has established a buffer zone stretching up to the port of Kismayu. Somalia Restore Hope-2 may not be long in the making.

[shahadat hussain]

This is an extremely dangerous idea... considering that offensive operations have always met with failures on the long run in absence of sharp intelligences..

[Sergi]

Sea operations are ok. But if there is going to be land operation it should be hit and run. No camping. the authors opinion on somalia's clan theory is correct. There is a book written by US journalist on BLACK HAWK DOWN. It was explained in detail how that clan structure works. USA failed to understand that in first place. No need to taste the heat.
Get intelligence on pirate bases and logistic. Hit them and get outta there

[sancho]

This is a pretty interesting development, India attacking land bases in Somalia would be a pretty significant event (as far as India's history in humanitarian work is concerned).

Not going to happen, since IN don't have the capability to do so. They neither have naval helicopters with rocket or missiles currently, nor have we LHDs to carry combat helicopters and what role would IN frigats or destroyers play is questionable as well (which missile would they use to take out small pirate hideouts?).
They need us more to increase the surveillance roles and need more infos from our side to get intelligence data, because that will be the key, otherwise the chances of many civillian death is quiet high.

[Rajaraja Chola]

There is no need ....
India will do, what it feels best, if we feel like attacking their bases, we will and we dont need EU's advice in it...
Moreover, even without aircrafts, i feel IN is doing a fine job in tackling piracy

[CarbonD]

I think India should do a military operation on the suspected pirate nests..but for that we need better intelligence.



This is pure BS thinking..Infact many countries would welcome this for removing this garbage from their continent.
And also it would prove to many countries who want to wean away from Chinese neo-colonialism that India would back them if necessary.

Its not only china thats is colonising africa its India too
India joins 'neocolonial' rush for Africa's land and labour - Telegraph

[angeldemon_007]

^^^
Don't use the term colonization...do you even know what your ancestors did ??? Just read some history books and then point fingers .... ok... For starters just look at Jalliahwallah bagh... Nobody from India is doing any such thing in Africa. Do you wanna know why the still hates westerners, its the scars from colonization. You did whatever you wanted to do and now you play peace ?? Its not fair...
We got over you people but that doesn't mean every other country have...

[Sergi]

Its not only china thats is colonising africa its India too
India joins 'neocolonial' rush for Africa's land and labour - Telegraph

Now British will tell us about Colonism....... Very right !!!

[pari.mehta]

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This is to address fundemental problems with piracy. Piracy is never fought on water, from rome's troubles in shippings from and to egypt or north africa. The romans killed off most pirates by denying them land to sell stolen goods and rest on by just conquering all of it. All significant piracy efforts need to deal with the underlying problem, Somalia is a mess. It needs order, not democracy or anything fancy, just a stake in the international system.

The pirates brought this on themselves too, attacking oil tankers hundreds of Kms from the coast. Sending stolen ships as motherships and hunting near Maldives. They are increasing oil and shipping prices and asking for trouble from ALL. (know what the russians and chinese do to them)