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Round The World
New Delhi, 3 December
2021
Fortifying
‘Dosti’
INDIA, SRI
LANKA & MALDIVES
By Dr D.K
Giri
(Prof.
International Politics, JIMMC)
The 15th
edition of biennial trilateral coast guard exercise took place from 20th
to 24th November. It did not receive much media attention as it
involved,unlike the joint drills by the QUAD members, two smaller neighbours of
India.This is an oversight as any country in international politics is
sovereign and has similar status as the other.
The exercise is
nicknamed ‘Dosti’ which literally means friendship, and in the
intergovernmental relationship it can be called close partnership. This is a
welcome development as any opportunity to deepen bilateralism in South Asia is
propitious for peace and security, especially when Beijing is fomenting
disunity and discord in the region., The High Commission of India in Maldives
endorsed this viewpoint in a statement.
“The
aim of India-Maldives-Sri Lanka tri-lateral exercise ‘Dosti’ is to
further fortify the friendship, enhance mutual operational capability, and
exercise interoperability and to build cooperation between the Coast Guards of
Maldives, India and Sri Lanka.” It is clear that both Maldives and Sri
Lanka are of strategic importance to New Delhi and to its maritime security
interests.
The ‘Dosti’
exercise was launched way back in 1991 between India and Maldives as bilateral
exercise. It became trilateral when Sri Lanka joined the duo in 2012. Ships of
Indian navy, Maldives national defence forces and Sri Lankan navy take part in
this trilateral exercise. The vessels operated this time near the Exclusive
Economic Zones (EEC) of three countries in the southern Arabian Sea. Indian Coast Guard vessels, the ICGS Vajra and ICGS
Apoorva, joined the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, SLCGS Suraksha, its MNDF Maritime Reconnaissance
Aircraft Dornier and the defence forces of
for the five-day exercise.
The scope of the
exercise is quite large. According to experts the scope is based on the
realisation that, if there is a maritime accident,
or if there is an ecological disaster like an oil spill, sometimes the coast
guard of one nation cannot tackle it alone. Thus, the exercises carried out over the past ten years have
focused on exercises and drills on providing assistance in sea accidents,
eliminating sea pollution, and the Coast Guard's procedure and conduct during
situations such as oil spills and other similar disasters.
The
significance of the exercise consists of the following. One, these exercises help
coordination and mutual support during joint operations and missions undertaken
by participating countries, promotes intelligence sharing and help enhance interoperability.
Two, although piracy is not a major issue in this part of the Indian Ocean,
these kinds of exercises also help coast guards with training for possibilities
of any mishap occurring. Three, these exercises help develop a better
understanding of the other nation’s coast guard operations and how to enhance
coordination during different kinds of missions.
These exercises help
establish coordination among the countries, and in maritime activities
co-ordination critical as one country, one coast guard cannot do much. The
exercise relates to at least three contexts. One, the security context;in
August this year, three countries agreed to work on four pillars of security
cooperation. These related to maritime security, human trafficking, counter terrorism,
and cyber security. This decision brought the National Security Advisors of the
three countries into the picture. The NSA level talks augur well for the
security in the Indian Ocean region. Experts suggest that NSA driven maritime
cooperation will work better, if the Navies and the coast guards understand
each other’s operations.
The second is the
diplomatic context. The trilateral exercise coincides with the visit Maldives
Defence Minister Mariya Didi. She will be the first defence minister to review
the passing out parade in Indian naval academy. Didi will meet her counterparts
on enhancing security and defence cooperation between both the countries. She
met and was adequately briefed by the Indian High Commissioner on her scope of
diplomatic engagements in India.
At the same time, Sri
Lankan Minister of Finance, Basil Rajapakshawas in Indiafrom 1st
December 2021 to meet the Indian ministers. The purpose was to enhance the
collaboration. Basil Rajapaksha, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksha and
the Prime Minister and former President Mahendra Rajapaksha was inducted into
the Cabinet last July and will have diplomatic heft. The tri-lateral exercise
brings diplomatic dividends.
The third is the
political context. All countries in South Asia except India appear to be
vulnerable to bullying and bargaining by Beijing. They are compelled to
negotiate with Beijing for unavoidable economic reasons as China has been
propped up by the West as an economic power-house. Quite a few sectors of
economy may not function without inputs from China, and Beijing is shrewd
enough to take political advantage of such dependability by economies of the
world, especially from neighbouring South Asia. Therefore, any bilateral
exercise in this case, a trilateral one, among South Asian countries will yield
political cooperation in international politics.
It is held by experts
that New Delhi must have sound and healthy relations with her neighbours. The
former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee of BJP had famously said, “you can change
your friends, but you cannot change your neighbours”. His successor from the
same party, Narendra Modi is now the Prime Ministerfor the second consecutive term.
He began well with the neighbours by inviting all the heads of States to his
swearing-in ceremony. He made his first foreign visit as the Prime Minister to Bhutan.
His first visit to Nepal also received euphoric reception.
In his second term,
and few years down the line, relations began to sour between New Delhi and its neighbours
including the close friend Nepal, let alone Pakistan. China is a factor in driving
a wedge between New Delhi and Kathmandu and making it worse with Islamabad.
That is precisely the test of diplomacy as the vested interest will muddy the
waters for their selfish interest, and New Delhi is in muddied waters vis-à-vis
most of the neighbours. Therefore, the trilateral exercise should clean it up
at least partly. More such exercises and bilateral activities will be good for
reviving good neighbourliness. Let us hope this happens. ---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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