Common Futures

Common Futures: India and Africa in Partnership
Indian Navy’s involvement in anti-piracy operations since 2008 has led to
greater bilateral interaction with navies in the region. Apart from regular ship
visits, efforts are also being made to share best practices and build capacity
through training, transfer of naval hardware and intelligence sharing.
gaps and ineffective security apparatus along the eastern African flank, as
well as a rise in illegal fishing in the area, could encourage a resurgence of
piracy in the Gulf of Aden. This would threaten, again, Indian trade and
energy shipping routes, most of which pass through here, but also harm
economic growth and integration in the African states in question 5 —Kenya,
for example, is set to become one of the largest African oil producers and
exporters. There are even concerns of Somali pirates shifting location towards
India, as noted by Indian Defence Minster recently.
Maritime terrorism is another security concern. The Indian experience of the
2008 Mumbai attacks has kept the spectre of further such episodes at the
forefront. Security and stability to prevent fundamentalism and sympathy
with radical groups such as ISIS among the young populations of the Indian
Ocean Rim countries is an imperative for both India and Africa, 6 to not only
ensure safe conduit through the Indian Ocean but also foster unimpeded
growth and development.
A third key maritime security threat is that of drug trafficking. Increasingly
complicated smuggling flows exist today, and the Indian Ocean plays its part.
Interceptions off the eastern African seaboard, emerging as a trans-shipment
hub, 7 indicate that narcotic consignments originate from Southeast Asia,
Latin America and South Asia. For instance, over 1,300 kilograms of heroin
and other narcotics were seized in the first half of 2014 in the region.
India’s existing security-related engagement with Africa in the Indian Ocean
has mostly been through bilateral cooperation with Mauritius, Seychelles and
Madagascar. Cases in point: Mauritius recently commissioned the Indianmade
offshore patrol vessel ‘Barracuda’ into its navy; Indian Prime Minister
Modi launched the first of the planned 32 Coastal Surveillance Radar stations
in Seychelles; India built a monitoring station in northern Madagascar in
2007. India has also developed significant ties with Mozambique, regularly
patrolling the Mozambique Channel, supplying equipment and training, and
5 For example, there is interest in constructing the East Africa Central Corridor railway line that will
connect landlocked nations in the East Africa region to the port of Dar es Salaam.
6 While the tentacles of ISIS have reached Bangladesh and Maldives, Mauritius, too, is seeing increased
levels of fundamentalist elements. See http://www.asiantribune.com/node/87114 for more details.
7 24 tonnes of drugs, valued at US$ 190 million, are smuggled annually from the East African coast,
all along Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya and Tanzania. Vijay Sakhuja, “Drug Smuggling across
the Indian Ocean: Impact of Increasing Interceptions,” IPCS article, September 11, 2014, http://
www.ipcs.org/article/terrorism/drug-smuggling-across-the-indian-ocean-impact-of-increasinginterceptions-4654.html.
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