Greater Noida (Defence Correspondent), December 09: India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has listed Indian Navy’s support in Western Indian Ocean amid the threats of Houthis, a militant group from Yemen. The minister went on to claim that Indian navy has responded to 24 incidents in the recent past and has escorted over 250 ships leading to an overall rescue of 120 crew.
Indian navy has been playing a significant role and registering its presence not only in the Indian ocean but also in the western part of it.
But is the Houthis threat real?
The Houthis, a militant group from Yemen, claims that their actions are to fight against the alleged expansion of Salafism in Yemen, and for the defence of their community from discrimination.
What worrying is that the Houthis continue regional and global expansion, networking with terror groups and state sponsors of terrorism.
They have also claimed attacks to several ships in the Indian Ocean, including the MSC Vittoria. However, it is argued that the group is more active and focused in the Gulf of Aden and the Southern Red Sea areas.
The Houthis are also said to be well equipped with ammunition and arms. Their range, if international sources are to be believed, have a range of up to 2,000 kilometres. However, some say that the group is unlikely to be able to target vessels in the wider Indian Ocean.
But this does not mean that the Houthis have had no damaging impact. In fact as a set back to commercial movement of ships and vessels in the Indian Ocean, a number shipping companies have been forced to reroute their vessels around Southern Africa, which has increased shipping costs and delayed deliveries.
Such disturbances have also attracted the attention of world powers and the international community has responded to the Houthis’ attacks with multinational naval missions, and the United States, United Kingdom, and Israel have also taken action against ground targets in Yemen.
The war between Israel’s and Gaza also has had an impact the operations of Houthis who stand in support of the Palestinians. As a recent trend it also has been noted that the Houthis have only been launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters since November 2023.
But when it comes to the Indian Ocean and the western Indian Ocean, that is when the Indian Navy comes into the picture.
With the Indian Navy expanding its operations in the Indian Ocean, in order to provide security and stability to the ships moving in this region and supporting the neighbouring countries to run their trade, the Indian Navy has been involved in back to back anti-piracy operations in the region for several years, including off the coast of Africa.
Not only the Indian Navy has been rescuing ships and crews that have been hijacked or hit by missiles or drones but it also conducts patrols and escorts merchant vessels.
This has immensely helped India developed relationships with countries in the Indian Ocean Rim, the Gulf, and Africa through joint patrols, training, and capacity building. It is widely believed that the Indian Navy’s role in this region helps to ensure the safety of maritime trade routes, which contributes to the economic stability of the region.
In fact other than fighting terrorism and threats from such militant outfits, the Indian Navy has also responded to disasters in the region, such as Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019, Cyclone Diane’ in Madagascar in 2020, and the MV Wakashio oil spill off Mauritius in 2020.
Moreover the responsibility lies in the hands of India also because it is an observer to the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC), which allows it to work with member states to improve maritime security.
Also over time India’s way of operation in international waters has proven that India’s maritime strategy is driven by strategic rivalry with China and great power aspirations. The Indian Navy has focused on developing relationships at key points of entry into the Western Indian Ocean, such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Mozambique Channel.
This is also a reason why India has managed to gain a worldwide support in its operations against any act that may hinder commerce in the Indian Ocean region.
But since with great powers come responsibilities, and India has always been the first to raise it voice against any kind of violence or harassment, the onus of securing passages from be it the Houthis or any other outfit active in the Indian Ocean Region, all eyes stay stuck to the movement of the Indian Navy.
