Indian warships to exercise in South China Sea

Drills to be conducted with five Asean countries

Four Indian naval warships have reached the South China Sea to exercise with five Asean nations surrounding the disputed sea zone, before sailing to Australia.

While two of them—stealth frigate INS Satpura and anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kamorta—were already there taking part in the Simbex-2015 drills with Singapore Navy, two other ships—missile destroyer INS Ranvir and fleet tanker INS Shakti—reached Jakarta on Sunday.

The Indian warships will exercise with Indonesian Navy for the next four days before touching Asean ports like Kuantan in Malaysia, Sattahip in Thailand and Sihanoukville in Cambodia. After completing these engagements, the warships will set sail for Freemantle in Australia. The deployment involves a three-month-long voyage of the Eastern Fleet of Indian Navy, led by Rear Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh.

The Indian deployment comes at a time when territorial dispute over the area is increasing, with several countries opposing China's alleged plans of militarisation of the maritime zone.

Successive Indian Navy chiefs have stated that Navy is capable of including South China Sea as its “area of interest” if Indian assets are threatened.

“India believes in the freedom of navigation. Indian oil exploration activities in the South China Sea are in accordance with all international laws. Statements (made by China) threatening use of force are not appropriate as both countries are committed to resolve the issue,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said here on Sunday.

Three years ago, on a routine port call to Vietnam, Indian warship INS Airavat had received a message from a Chinese military vessel asking it to leave what the Chinese claimed was their territorial waters, but otherwise accepted as international waters.

“On July 22 (in 2012), at a distance of 45 nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast in the South China Sea, it was contacted on an open radio channel by a caller identifying himself as the 'Chinese Navy' stating that 'you are entering Chinese waters'. No ship or aircraft was visible from INS Airavat, which proceeded on her onward journey as scheduled. There was no confrontation,” stated the External Affairs Ministry.
The South China Sea disputes figured prominently at the ongoing Shangri-La dialogue at Singapore, which for the first time was attended by US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter. Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, who represented India at the security meet, did not mention South China Sea in his address.