Tag: Indian Ocean Region

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Trincomalee Key to India’s Dominance in Indian Ocean

Napoleon had once said “He who controls Trincomalee controls the Indian ocean” and that sums up very well the strategic and historic importance of the South Asian port, writes Darakhsha Qamar

The Sri Lankan government recently announced its decision to liberalise fuel trade in the country, allowing Sinopec (China), United Petroleum (Australia) and RM Parks (USA)- 3 leading fuel suppliers in the world- to start selling petroleum products in the Island nation.

Many countries- especially India and China have strategic interests in investing in Sri Lanka. The liberalisation then, is the Sri Lankan government’s attempt to use this to their advantage and usher in an era of greater energy security for the island nation.

Thus far, the Lankan fuel market had only two major players- The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC), with the latter being responsible for around 1/3rd of the fuel supply in the country. The LIOC, a subsidiary of the Indian Oil, is currently developing the Trincomalee Oil Tank farm along with the CPC, under the agreements signed between the two parties last year. The current President Ranil Wickremesinghe plans for Trincomalee involve it’s transformation into a energy hub- with the help of the Indians- as well as the utilisation of the agriculture export potential of the north and central northern provinces of Sri Lanka, with Trincomalee serving an important role to that end.

What is Trincomalee then? And why is the Indian Government so keen on developing a strong presence in the area?

Napoleon had once said “He who controls Trincomalee controls the Indian ocean” and that sums up very well the strategic and historic importance of the South Asian port. Trincomalee- its name an anglicised version of the tamil word Thiru-Kona-Malai or “Lord of the sacred Hill”- is a port town located in the North-eastern coast of Sri Lanka in the Trincomalee Bay overlooking the harbour which also happens to be one of the deepest natural harbours in the world. Its location- at one of the busiest shipping routes, its oil tank farm and the easy accessibility of its natural harbour to service this farm, is responsible for the covetous position it has always enjoyed. Since the 18th century, imperial powers who went on to rule the subcontinent, like the Dutch, French and the British have sought to control the harbour due to its commercial and strategic value.

Yet, for political reasons, the Sri Lankan government did not focus on its development after independence, choosing instead to concentrate on the Southern areas, including the capital city Colombo. For that matter, even India hasn’t always been keen to invest in Trincomalee even though scholars working on the Indian Ocean like K.M Panikker for example, have long understood, and written about the significance of Trincomalee for securing India’s defensive interests.  Back in 1987, as part of the India-Sri Lanka Accord, an agreement to jointly develop the oil tank farm was discussed.

However, due to ensuing protracted civil war, the agreement never saw the light of day. India finally turned its attention back to Trincomalee in the last decade, after China signed a 99 year lease to operate the southern Sri Lankan port of Hambantota. China’s overwhelming presence in the subcontinent, including and most importantly in the Indian Ocean, has steadily increased in the last decade posing a major challenge to India’s maritime security interests. This resulted in India trying to gain a footprint in the northern part of Sri Lanka which, strategically, is of utmost importance due to the geographical proximity as well ethnic and linguistic ties between the Tamil dominated north Sri Lanka and Southern India.

Since 2010-2011 then, India began to take a fresh look at Trincomalee-which also happens to be the closest port to Chennai- with LIOC officials having first pitched the development of the farm as a storage facility for Indian Oil or as a refuelling station for small ships coming in from nearby ports.

Incidentally, the oil tank farm in Trincomalee was built during the 2nd World War by the British as a storage facility and refuelling station for the Allies. Having an oil storage facility and refinery situated next to the Trincomalee port is economically very advantageous. The oil farm consists of a total of 99 tanks that has the capacity to contain 1.2 million tonnes of fuel in total. By jointly developing the oil farm, India and Sri Lanka can potentially turn the farm into a petroleum hub that would go a long way in securing energy security in the region.

Indian Navy sends training mission to Sri Lanka to revive military ties in South Asia.(photo:IN)

In 2015, when PM Modi visited Sri Lanka, New Delhi and Colombo agreed to develop Trincomalee as a petroleum hub. However, things never progressed beyond talks, until 2021, when the first signs of trouble began to appear in the China-Sri Lanka strategic relationship owing to the debilitating economic crisis Sri Lanka found itself mired in. Due to the economic crisis, Sri Lanka had to shut down its only refinery due to its inability to pay for fuel imports and it reached out to India for fuel purchases on credit.

India extended a credit line to cover oil imports which was hinged on the finalisation of the long-awaited agreement for the India-Sri Lanka joint development of the Trincomalee oil tank farm. The agreement which gave the LIOC a 49% stake in the joint development and is valid for the next 50 years was finally signed in January 2022. Further, since this agreement, the Sri Lankan government has started developing plans to revive commercial activities in the region through the setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), development of the hinterlands, the oil tank and refurbishment of the port to better facilitate these activities.

This gives us reason to be hopeful that regional energy security, with Trincomalee at its nexus, might soon be a reality.

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China’s Indian Ocean Game Plan

The exclusion of India in the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) forum is seen more as Beijing’s game plan for creating strategic leverage rather than promoting development of the countries in the region and peace in the Indian Ocean…reports Asian Lite News

China held a meeting last week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region minus India, which brought lots of criticism and suspicion about Beijing’s intentions in the region.

Many observers opined that any meeting on Indian Ocean region excluding India would be both illogical and inconsequential and reveal Beijing’s strategic designs.

India is a country with a 7,516.6 Km of coastal area and exclusive economic zone spreading deep in to the Indian Ocean. The region serves as immediate backyard for it from the angle of security as well.

However, India was not invited. Two other important countries in the Indian Ocean region, Australia and Maldives, also did not attend the meeting.

But representatives of Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti and from three international organisations were present.

The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held the meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21.

CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former Vice Foreign Minister and Ambassador to India. According to the official website of the organization, he is the Secretary of the CPC (the ruling Communist Party of China) Leadership Group of CIDCA. However, the exclusion of India in this CIDCA forum is seen more as Beijing’s game plan for creating strategic leverage rather than promoting development of the countries in the region and peace in the Indian Ocean.

What the Chinese Spy Ship tells us about India’s growing security challenges.(photo:IN)

The event was quietly held along with many other events including the 6th China-South Asia expo, and the China-Indian Ocean region think-tank forum in a hybrid format under the theme of “Shared Development: Theory and Practice from the Perspective of the Blue Economy” in Kunming, showcasing China’s continuing quest for a larger presence and role in the strategically important Indian Ocean.

By now it is absolutely clear that Beijing, in its bid to become a global power, is vying for political influence and strategic leverage in the strategic Indian Ocean Region.

Undoubtedly Beijing has done substantial investment in ports and infrastructure investments in several countries of the region, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Beijing has been relentlessly trying to ramp up political, economic and security inroads in the region despite being geographically far from the Indian Ocean. But all these investments have not only failed to bring economic development, but also led to financial instability and created unsustainable debt burdens.

Although the purported goal of the forum was cooperation for development, but the underlying agenda seemed countering India’s strong influence in the Indian Ocean region where India-backed organisations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association, (IORA), which has a membership of 23 countries have taken strong roots.

China is a dialogue partner along with Russia, the US and several European countries in the IORA formed in 1997. Quite unlike India-led initiative, Chinese forum deliberately excluded India and other big countries which have deep engagement with the countries of the region only because China considers them as rivals which could counter its strategic designs in the region.

CIDCA’s aims to formulate strategic guidelines, plans and policies for foreign aid, coordinate and offer advice on major foreign aid issues, advance the country’s reforms in matters involving foreign aid, and identify major programmes, supervise and evaluate their implementation.

China was already critical of Quad and now as an effort to draw a parallel to similar initiative of Quad, China proposed at CIDCA meeting establishment of a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region. Besides, Beijing also showed willingness to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need.

It is an irony that during his tour of Sri Lanka in January this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed to establish a “forum on the development of Indian Ocean Island Countries.” But the country is a typical case of Chinese debt trap and China’s indifference during the collapse of the economy. This has created disbelief in other countries of the region regarding economic cooperation with Beijing. In fact Bangladesh is on record to have denied to be part of the BRI in an explicit manner for the fear of public outrage.

Contrary to it, India enjoys a higher level of credibility and a long trade and cultural association with the IOR countries. It has undertaken initiatives which are based on the principle of inclusion and equality. Besides the IORA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed an initiative called “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the IOR. Similarly, the Indian Navy-backed ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region.

What the Chinese Spy Ship tells us about India’s growing security challenges.(photo:IN)

Experts believe that the Chinese forum is an attempt to counter India’s traditional presence in the region. Some of them also expressed apprehension regarding politicization of the Indian Ocean region. China’s initiation of a new forum for IOR countries instead of actively participating in the India led forums indicates its strategic game plan for countering India’s strong influence in the region.

China with a prominent role in global supply chains has genuine reasons to tap the vast resource base of the Indian Ocean, and ensure safe passage through strategic sea lines of the IOR. This is why the Indian Ocean littoral has gained prominence in the Chinese policy framework. It is also necessary for implementation of its Belt and Road Initiative. But excluding countries like India, Australia and the US breeds suspicion because these countries have win-win engagements with the countries of the region since long.

China has created stakes with investments in ports and other infrastructure in the region spanning, from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the west to Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique in the east, and the many islands dotting the vast ocean mid-between. In East Africa, Beijing has also launched its first foreign military base in Djibouti. China has also investments in at least 17 ports, giving it a robust presence in the western Indian Ocean.

India has real concerns in the Indian Ocean due to certain developments in the region initiated by China. The increase in the presence of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the IOR has kept pace with China’s growing investments and influence. China’s upcoming base in Cambodia will enable the PLAN to maintain a greater presence in the eastern Indian Ocean, including India’s near-seas — the Bay of Bengal and the adjoining Andaman Sea. China has consistently deployed survey or research vessels capable of bathymetric studies — mapping the depth of the ocean floors, studying the ocean environment and collecting hydrological data.

The data collected by these research vessels in the Indian Ocean can be used to operate submarines in the region and detect enemy undersea platforms deployed in these waters. The strategic analysts suggest that China’s new Indian Ocean forum and India’s exclusion from it must be looked at in this context.

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India keeps close watch on Chinese ships in Indian Ocean: Navy Chief

Indian Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar

Indian Navy Chief’s remarks come as Chinese spy ships have been spotted in the Indian Ocean Region.

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Saturday said that the Indian Navy is keeping a close watch on all developments in the Indian Ocean, including the movement of Chinese Navy ships that operate in the region.

“There are a lot of Chinese ships which operate in the Indian Ocean Region. We have about 4-6 PLA Navy ships, then some research vessels which operate. A large number of Chinese fishing vessels operate in the Indian Ocean Region. We keep a close watch on all developments,” the Navy Chief said during an annual presser. He noted that nearly 60-odd other extra-regional forces are always present in Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

“We are aware it’s a vital region where there is a large amount of trade which transits, energy flows which happen. Our job is to see that India’s interests in the maritime domain are protected,” he added.

These remarks come as Chinese spy ships have been spotted in the Indian Ocean Region. Indian forces are reportedly keeping a close eye on their movements.

Yuan Wang 6

The Navy chief said maintaining a credible deterrence is the task of any armed force, especially the Navy. “To achieve that, we need to be ready to go in harm’s way at really short notice.”

Admiral R Hari Kumar said the Navy is ready to “protect, preserve and promote” India’s national interest in the maritime domain. “To achieve this, we have the vision of being a combat-ready, credible, cohesive and future-proof force.”

Citing recent global events like the Russia-Ukraine war, he said India cannot stay dependent on the world for its defence requirements. He added that the government has given the Navy very clear guidelines on Atmanirbhar Bharat.

“Recent global events amply underscore that we can’t remain dependent on others for our own security requirements… Government has given us very clear guidelines on Aatmanirbhar Bharat and one of the Navy’s commitments to the top leadership is that we’ll become an Aatmanirbhar Navy by 2047,” he said. (ANI)

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