As India builds greater ties with Africa, the Indian Navy is playing a significant role in establishing maritime security partnerships. It works to combat Somali piracy, as well as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, and other sea crimes in the western Indian Ocean region, including the Gulf of Aden, Mozambique Channel and the Red Sea. As part of its “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) policy, India has trained African maritime and military personnel at Indian institutes and enhanced information-sharing to develop maritime domain awareness through regional information fusion centers and maritime coordination centers.
These efforts and others “demonstrate India’s commitment to serving as a net-security provider in the Indian Ocean and a preferred partner for African nations seeking to safeguard their maritime interests,” analyst Aritra Banerjee wrote in Eurasia Review. Last year, the Indian Navy rescued the Malta-flagged commercial ship MV Ruen about three months after it was hijacked by Somali pirates, who were later arrested and brought to India for prosecution. In Madagascar and the Agaléga islands off Mauritius, India has developed listening stations, which monitor and intercept radio communications,
while another one is proposed in Assumption Island off Seychelles, according to Abhishek Mishra of New Delhi’s Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.In 2023, India built a major airstrip and jetty on Agaléga’s larger northern island. The airstrip is staffed by Indian Navy officers and guards and can handle Boeing P-8I surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft of the Indian Armed Forces. The Agaléga facilities also enable maritime patrols over the Mozambique Channel, and its staging point will let the Indian Navy observe shipping routes around southern Africa.
a research officer at the Australian National University’s National Security College, wrote for The Lowy Institute.India also has conducted hydrographic surveys for African countries and developed the Coastal Radar Surveillance network in Mauritius and Seychelles. India has recognized the varying priorities of African countries and has fine-tuned its own ways of maritime security cooperation in order to effectively respond to the emerging challenges,” Mishra wrote for the Center for International Maritime Security. In April, India and 10 African countries completed a first-of-its-kind naval exercise in the Indian Ocean, known as the Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement, or Aikeyme. They conducted the exercise.
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