Lurking dangers on India’s coastline

DISCOVERY: If the young tigers of Bangladesh gave a shock to Indian cricketers at the West Indies earlier this week, there are signs that India is realizing the dangers it is facing in the South from Tiger terror.

Last month, in the wake of the seizure of arms and explosives of Chennai, and the discovery of a well organized LTTE support network operating in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony said what was found so far was possibly “the tip of the iceberg” and warned of “lurking dangers” along India’s coast, especially in the South.

Significantly, Antony made these observations to the media on board the Indian Coast Guard Ship “Sagar” after a fleet review of the Coast Guard ships and aircraft held off the coast of Goa, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Coast Guard Force.

Answering questions about the incident involving a suspected LTTE boat, which had an armed suicide kit too, the Indian Defence Minister was reported saying: “It is not only Chennai, it could just be the tip of the iceberg. There could be similar incidents at sea; there could be many other instances which go unreported”.

In the event, Antony has proved himself to be much more pragmatic and realistic than many other Indian politicians in assessing the dangers to India from current developments on its southern coastline, the Palk Bay and in Tamil Nadu.

Taking an overview of the emerging situation, the Indian Defence Minister said on that occasion that with the expansion of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone the threat to its economic interests would be more.

He explained that with the economy growing, sea-borne trade, energy needs and under-sea cabling needs were bound to mount over the next few years and therefore there was the need to curb maritime terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking and smuggling”.

Shared responsibility

This assessment was very clearly explained to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa when they met in New Delhi last November.

Sri Lanka’s President explained the threat that strengthened Sea Tigers of the LTTE could pose both to Sri Lanka and India, including the Sethusamudram Project and the safety of the sea lanes in this region.

It is this growing threat that made him propose to India that both Sri Lanka and India share the responsibilities of patrolling and safeguarding the sea lanes to the south of India and north of Sri Lanka.

If New Delhi’s South Bloc and opportunist politicians in Tamil Nadu sought to play down this emerging threat on India’s southern coastline and the Sri Lankan President’s, proposal, subsequent events have exposed their folly.

Although unstated by name, there is little doubt that LTTE activity is a spectre that haunts the strategists in India’s Southern Command. It is this growing threat that prompted Defence Minister Antony to once again refer to the threats of India’s coastline and on the Palk Bay.

Addressing the media at the Southern Naval Command at Kochi last Sunday, after delivering a keynote address at a seminar on “Kerala - Emerging Maritime Issues and Challenges” he said, “Maritime, terrorism, drug trafficking and piracy were major threats” and that the [Indian] Navy, Coast Guard and personnel of the coastal police stations must act in coordination to thwart attempts to attack India’s coastal assets.

The Minister also said that: “Joint patrolling by the navies of India and Sri Lanka has been suggested, to keep the trouble-makers at bay. We already have unmanned aerial vehicles to do surveillance of the coast. Three offshore patrol vessels and more helicopters will be commissioned into the Navy”, he added.

The mark of the Tiger

It was Sri Lanka that recently proposed joint patrols by the Navies of India and Sri Lanka in view of developments in the waters off the South of India and the North of Sri Lanka.

It does not need much divining to identify who these “trouble-makers” the Indian Defence Minister referred to. When it comes to maritime terrorism, drug trafficking and piracy, there is no other candidate in this region that fits the description better than the LTTE.

The Sea Tigers have been engaged in maritime terrorism for a long time, and it is now evident that with the help of willing politicians and Tamil extremists in Tamil Nadu they have made intrusions into the South of India.

As to piracy it was not too long ago that the LTTE carried out a blatant act of maritime piracy when it captured that disabled Jordanian cargo vessel “Farah” off the coast of Sri Lanka.

It was transporting cargo from India to the Middle East. The danger the LTTE posses to Indian assets, as well as to international shipping needs no better description.

All international organizations in the hunt for drug trafficking have identified the LTTE as a key organization in the international network engaged in this illegal activity. It is also known that the LTTE uses the profits from drug trafficking to fund its arms purchases from both the East and West.

In addition to drug trafficking, the Indian authorities are also well aware that the LTTE uses the seas off India to carry out its arms smuggling activities.

Indian intelligence and surveillance have led to the destruction of LTTE vessels smuggling arms and for their detection and interdiction.

Joint patrols

It is in this context that there is significance in the statement by the Indian Defence Minister that Joint Patrolling by the Indian and Sri Lankan Navies has been suggested, to keep trouble-makers at bay.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry in a recent statement following the issue of alleged attacks on Indian fishermen said the Government of Sri Lanka proposed to the Indian authorities its willingness to work out an arrangement with the Indian side to jointly monitor the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on either side as well as share information regarding the movement of Indian fishermen.

Interestingly the developing situation in the Palk Bay and the Tamil Nadu coastline has now prompted the Indian authorities to launch joint patrolling by the Indian Coast Guard and the Tamil Nadu Police, for better surveillance and security in what is becoming an increasingly sensitive area. The first Coast Guard cum Police joint patrols have already been launched.

Tamil speaking

The Indian Coast Guard’s Eastern Region Commander Inspector General Rajendra Singh is quoted in The Hindu of March 16 saying: “Currently there are only a few Tamil speaking personnel on board Coast Guard ships and the presence of the police personnel could be used effectively in patrolling, warning and interception duties”.

It seems strange that there is a special interest in having Tamil speaking personnel on board the Coast Guard vessels doing joint patrols at the Palk Bay, if they were not expecting to come across Tamil speaking “trouble-makers” in these waters.

With the somewhat safe presumption that these “trouble-makers” are not Tamil Nadu fishermen, it is not difficult to deduce that they must be from the LTTE.

All this ties up well with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama’s emphasis at his recent meetings with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, that a successful response to terrorism required a collective effort, effectively addressing it in all its forms and associated manifestations.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister made this observation when he met the Indian External Affairs Minister vis-…-vis the forthcoming SAARC summit due to be held in India next month. SAARC summits are not places where bi-lateral issues are taken up.

However, the retreats that are the more important part of this exercise in regional summitry will certainly be useful for both countries to share the more recent experiences regarding the dangers to India’s assets, both at sea and on its coastline, and look deeper into the possibilities to a collective efforts in curbing the activity of the LTTE’s terror, piracy, and trafficking in drug and arms in this region.

The pragmatism of the Indian Defence Minister that “the task of protecting and furthering India’s interests was not that of the Indian Navy alone’, has already seen Joint Indian Patrols by the Indian Coast Guard and the Tamil Nadu Police.

It will be interesting to see whether and when this understanding of reality will extend to reaching out to her neighbours to safeguard both India’s interests, whether it is fisherman or other assets, and also the larger interests of the region.