They were speaking at a two-day international conference on “Major Powers’ Interests in Indian Ocean: Challenges and Options for Pakistan” which was jointly organised by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Hanns Seidel Foundation, said a press release.
Former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral (retd) Muhammad Asif Sandila said that greater cooperation was required among Indian Ocean navies for development and economic prosperity of the region. He also highlighted the dangerous challenge of piracy being faced by the seafarers of the Indian Ocean which had become an organised crime in recent years.
Quaid-e-Azam University School of Politics and International Relations Associate Professor Dr Nazir Hussain said that Pakistan needed to develop an Indian Ocean strategy. He said that Indian Ocean was very militarised and there was a need to demilitarise it. Hussain said Pakistan should adopt multilateralism instead of the bilateral approach given its geo-strategic location in the Indian Ocean region.
“Indian Ocean does not have a single focal point, it has many,” said Pakistan Navy War College research fellow Muhammad Azam Khan. He called for reinforcing regional maritime security. He said that Indian Ocean had diverse economies and systems of governance and had seen many conflicts after the cold war.
Lt Commander (retd) Adil Rashid of the National Centre for Maritime Policy Research said Pakistan’s maritime strategy is defense-driven with no element of seeking parity with the neighboring countries that are reportedly opting for a full-fledged blue water navy. “The imperatives of the strategy include protection of Pakistan’s territorial waters, securing sea resources and to ensure free and smooth economic access for trade. Pakistan’s is a medium-sized navy with no offensive designs,” he said.
He said Pakistan Navy had cooperated with the international community as part and sometimes as the command of task forces in collaboration with NATO to carry out anti-piracy campaign in the Horn of Africa, Gulf of Eden and waters around it.
AZ Hilali of the University of Peshawar said that a strong and well-equipped navy was crucial for country’s security and its role could not be undermined.
National Defence University International Relations Head of Department Dr Muhammad Khan said that India needed to realize that Indian Ocean is not an ‘India Ocean’. He said that enhanced Indo-China cooperation and due shares of littoral and rim land states were also important. He said revamping existing security architecture to suit region, rather that global players was also a need of the hour to maintain security and stability in the Indian Ocean region.
IPRI will soon publish a book based on proceedings of the conference.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ