It is not adequately appreciated that while India has a land frontier of some 15,000 km, our coastline too is 7,500 km long, way more than of many leading nations. It is from this sea frontier that we engage in trade with nations of the world so that national prosperity is enhanced. Our Navy guards this long coastline and is an integral component of India’s security architecture.
The five-day International Fleet Review (February 4-8) organised by the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam, in which the navies of 51 nations, participated, will hopefully make us more aware of the vital role of the seas — and of the Navy — in maintaining maritime stability so that international trade and commerce can proceed unhindered.
It is to be hoped that our legislators and policy planners pay sufficient attention to the growth of our Navy — the fighting forces and the merchant marine — and help raise public awareness of the signal contribution they make. The tradition of fleet reviews goes back to 15th century Britain when the monarch inspected the readiness of the Navy to go to war.
In India, since 1953, the President, as supreme commander of the armed forces, reviews the Navy once during his tenure, and the International Fleet Review that ends today is the 11th — and the most advanced and sophisticated — in that series, with around 100 ships, mostly Indian, participating.
The warships of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — were anchored in Visakhapatnam alongside those from Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran, to name a few, besides our neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
Bringing together such a grand assembly of flotillas will go down as a high point of the career of Navy chief Adm. Robin Dhowan, who is due to retire shortly.Pakistan didn’t come forward, possibly for historical reasons, but might have found itself in good company had it done so and appreciated that the IFR, in the context of present-day international life, is about raising the prospect of enhancing cooperation. “Partnership Together for a Secure Maritime Future” was the theme of the seminar at the IFR.
At the Navy Chief’s banquet in his honour on Saturday, President Pranab Mukherjee noted that it was “an indisputable fact” that the “independence and prosperity of nations, and the peace and tranquillity of the world” hinges upon the “security and stability of the seas and the oceans”. This is a call to keep the seas not only safe, but also indivisible, as a part of the “shared responsibility” of all nations. The seas are, after all, a part of the global commons.
