New Delhi, Dec 2 (Inditop.com) Pakistan may atend the next session of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) to be held in the UAE next May, hopes the Indian Navy, which started the initiative.
Pakistan had not attended the inaugural session of the IONS terming it as a grouping against the Islamic world. The Indian Navy’s main thrust is to bring Pakistan “completely on board”, a Navy officer said here Wednesday.
When the chiefs-of-navy of 26 Indian Ocean littoral states got together in February 2008 for the first meeting of IONS here, Pakistan was represented by its naval attache.
“The forum was open to every nation located in the Indian Ocean Region. They might have had some compulsions in not attending the inaugural session. I expect they might join the next sessions in the UAE (United Arabs Emirates),” Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters.
The UAE will be the next chairman of the IONS and will take over in March 2010.
According to another senior Indian Navy official: “The invitation to attend the sessions are being sent by the host countries. Though the Pakistan Navy did not attend the inaugural session held in India they attended the technical workshop hosted by the Sri Lankan Navy.”
When the proposal for the forum was put up, Pakistan tried to scuttle it by playing the religious card and terming it as antagonistic to the interests of the Islamic world. But the Indian Navy tackled it by getting UAE and Indonesia into the ambit of IONS.
With Pakistan fully on board, the Indian Navy is likely to rotate the chairmanship of the grouping to Islamabad by 2016. If Pakistan backs out, the chairmanship would go to Sri Lanka.
The next year would be important to gauge the effectiveness and success of the Indian Navy’s initiative. During the meeting in the UAE the 33 littoral countries that are members of the grouping will also consider the formal requests by the US, Britain, China and Brazil’s Navy to join as observers.
“Yes, the US, Britain, China and Brazil have sent formal requests to be part of the IONS. The proposal will be considered at the meeting next year,” the official added.
The request from the major maritime powers has come over a year after the Indian Navy, seeking constructive engagement as primary means of achieving and assuring mutual beneficial maritime security, stability, safety and consequent collective prosperity, set up IONS.
The American and British navies have expressed their desire to be part of IONS as the countries have bases in the Indian Ocean region.
Their requests follow that of the Chinese Navy, which had approached its Indian counterparts to induct them into IONS either as an observer or associate member. However, the India is not enthusiastic about China’s request as it is seen as part of Beijing’s design to gain access to the Indian Ocean Region.
IONS provides a forum for discussion of issues regional and global. The Indian Navy wants to generate a flow of information and opinion between naval professionals.
IONS came into existence as a consequence of the deliberations made by the commanders of the navies around the Indian Ocean who gathered in India in February 2008 at the invitation of then navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta.
