US says its warship sailed through India's EEZ in accordance with international law

The American Navy warship USS John Paul Jones went by international law when it sailed through the Exclusive Economic Zone of India on April 7, the United States Department of Defence stated, notwithstanding protest by New Delhi.

A spokesperson of the US Department of Defence stated that the USS John Paul Jones Freedom of Navigation Operation in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India on April 7 was “consistent with international law”.

The US Navy’s missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones sailed through the EEZ of India in the Indian Ocean on April 7 last without requesting for New Delhi’s prior consent and thus deliberately challenged its “excessive maritime claims,” India conveyed to the US its concern over the incident.

“That's consistent with international law,” John Kirby, the spokesperson of the US Department of Defence, said in Washington D.C. when journalists asked him about the American Navy warship’s Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the EEZ of India. “Again, we continue to maintain the right, indeed the responsibility, to fly, sail, and operate in accordance with international law,” he said, adding that it was the responsibility of the US to uphold the freedom of navigation and the rights and freedom and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law.

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The USS John Paul Jones “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” approximately 130 nautical miles west of Lakshadweep Islands, a Union Territory of India, on April 7 last. The US warship did not request India’s permission before sailing through its Exclusive Economic Zone. “India requires prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvrers in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law,” the 7th Fleet of the US Navy stated, adding that the FONOP had upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging “excessive maritime claims” of India.

Kirby referred to a FONOP carried out by the USS John Paul Jones in the EEZ of Maldives on the same day. He said that it was an “innocent passage” and “normal operation”.

He, however, did not specifically refer to the similar operation carried out by the warship in the EEZ of India.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi on Friday reiterated the position of the Government of India that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) did not authorise any nation to carry out military exercises or manoeuvres, particularly the ones involving the weapons and explosives, in the EEZ or the Continental Shelf of another nation without the consent of the second nation. India had clarified its position while ratifying the UNCLOS in 1995.

The US, on the other hand, never ratified the convention at all but has been maintaining that the UNCLOS gave all nations the right to conduct drills in the EEZ and continental shelves of other nations, without prior consent of the governments of the other nations.