'I have no desire to patrol Malacca Straits'
A recent report says you wanted India to play a role in patrolling the Malacca Straits. Who are the other main players in that region?
I am glad you brought that up. There was a little bit of inaccuracy in that report. My comments at that briefing was that the US navy had no desire the patrol the straits of Malacca.
My point was that I believe it is the responsibility of the littoral states that surround the straits to address the security there, and that the US is interested in supporting in any way what the countries feel appropriate, but that I have no desire to patrol the straits. Nor would I ever presuppose to speak on behalf of the Indian navy or the Indian government.
Again my point is that I believe that the work that is being done in the straits by the littoral states, specifically Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and some of the recent initiatives that they have, particularly the Malacca Straits Sea Patrols and Eyes in the Sky -- that they are doing some really good work there, there are some good initiatives going on. I offer my support in any way that I can.
Does China also have a role to play in that region?
I believe that all the nations in that region are parties to addressing the broader maritime security issues. And in looking at ways of cooperating with one another, to provide operational information and support in any way that we can, to ensure that the flow of commerce is uninterrupted, and that to see that traffic is unaffected by some of the potential problems they face in the maritime domain.
There are many: piracy, clearly in recent weeks, India has seen the effects of piracy over and off the coast of Somalia, but is also trafficking in people and drugs and arms, and there is a terrorism component, and there are so many transnational criminal activities that take place, that all countries can contribute to help check.
Can any navy board a suspect ship in international waters?
There are protocols that we follow. What we seek is that country under flag the ship is flying take action. That's all part of how exchange information to people who want to know what's moving on the seas. Information as to whether there is questionable activity on the part of that ship, and then ways of coming to a solution: how do we solve this problem?
The best use in my mind is through the use of collective and cooperative sea power. And that requires good flows of information, which depends pretty much on much we want to use those channels.
But would it be legally justifiable for a warship to board or check a suspected vessel on international waters?
The first step as I mentioned we take is to work through the country under whose flag the ship is plying.
Image: INS Aditya, USS Chafee and INS Gomti move in formation on the high seas off the Goa coast, during the second phase of Malabar05, the biggest ever joint Indo-US naval excercise last year. The exercise involved the aircraft carriers USS Nimitz and INS Viraat as well as several frigates and submarines, and was conducted from September 25 to October 4, 2005.
Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza/AFP/Getty Images
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