Ensure no military power exercises hegemony in India Ocean Region: Rajnath Singh to naval commanders

New Delhi: In a veiled reference to China -- which has been increasing its marine footprint -- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asked naval commanders to ensure that "no overwhelming economic and military power is able to exercise hegemony over other nations in the Indian Ocean region".

"We ensured that the rules-based maritime order is strengthened in the Indian Ocean region. India is ensuring that all the neighbouring countries are to be helped in protecting their autonomy and sovereignty," he said, addressing the top brass of the Indian Navy.

The defence minister, who addressed the naval commanders at two separate events at Goa, said India's growing maritime power would be utilised to create an environment of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

"We ensured that the rules-based maritime order is strengthened in the Indian Ocean region. India is ensuring that all the neighbouring countries of the Indian Ocean should be helped in protecting their autonomy and sovereignty," he said, adding that navy is a reflection of India's growing stature on the global canvas.

On the volatile Red Sea situation, Singh said the recent attacks on undersea cables was a direct strike on strategic interests, while Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said the situation was not so good as Houthi rebels had been targeting merchant ships belonging to either Israel, the US or the UK with drones and missiles.

Their concerns came amidst the Indian Navy’s latest response to a call seeking help from a commercial ship that caught fire in the Gulf of Aden following an attack by a drone or a missile.

The Liberian-flagged vessel was transiting approximately 90 nautical miles south east of Aden when it reported a fire.

"INS Kolkata, deployed in the region for maritime security operations, promptly responded and arrived at the scene of the incident by 2230 hours," an Indian Navy official said.

The official said a specialised team of 12 personnel embarked the vessel early morning of March 5 to assist in firefighting efforts. An explosive ordnance disposal team has also embarked the vessel to provide assistance and residual risk assessment.

Over the last few months, the Indian Navy has been assisting commercial ships transiting through the Arabian Sea not only from suspected Houthi attacks, but also from numerous piracy attempts, which had increased following the Red Sea crisis.

Admiral Kumar said the navy was aggressively targeting piracy and would not allow trade in the Indian Ocean region to be disturbed.

“We are committed to ensuring there is peace at sea. We will not allow piracy to resume. We are aggressively targeting it. We will not allow the Indian Ocean to be disturbed, especially with regard to trade. The job of a Navy is to protect peaceful shipping and merchant ships,” he said.

The minister inaugurated a new training facility at the Naval War College in Goa besides virtually launching critical new infrastructure at Karwar naval base. Later he embarked on a warship to address the naval commanders while witnessing a rare two-aircraft carrier drill in the western seaboard.