Indian Navy Emerges as A Key Instrument for India’s Foreign Policy

New Delhi, Nov 4 (UNI) Amidst China’s expansion of its naval forays into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Indian Navy has emerged as a key instrument of India’s foreign policy and developing an effective mechanism for defence diplomacy initiatives for proactive engagement with IOR littorals that include Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Mauritius, Australia among others
As a concerted effort to expand its footprint in the IOR, the Indian Navy has signed technical agreements for sharing of white shipping information with 18 countries and also operationalized the same with 11 nations, an official in the defence ministry said.

The white sharing agreements, which enable exchange of unclassified information, are not security pacts per se, but would help augment existing capabilities to develop Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), thus aiding maritime security.

Also, it has set up a grid of coastal surveillance radar system (CSRS) in the IOR that will enable greater maritime transparency in the IOR.
The surveillance radar systems have been set up in Mauritius, Seychelles and and an automatic identification system (AIS) at Sri Lanka.

It is also moving forward for installation of a CSR chain at Maldives after months of political turbulence in the Island nation.

Source:UNI

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