The Indian Navy has enhanced its presence for focused maritime operations in the Arabian Sea following drone and missile attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on ships disrupting global supply chains as India’s 90 percent oil trade by volume happens through sea route.

India in its bid to fight back the Yemen-based Houthi rebels after they are suspected to have targeted commercial ships MV Chem Pluto and MV Sai Baba, however, has not joined the United States- led 10-nations naval task force for protecting ships. This is possibly because India wants to hold on to its position of being an independent net security provider in the Indo Pacific region given the emerging global insecurities.

Similarly, Spain has also kept itself out of the ‘Operation Atalanta’ — the European Union’s anti-piracy naval force — to protect ships from Houthi militia in the Red Sea. Spain though does not oppose the creation of a different mission there, its Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is reported to have said on Wednesday.

Security measures

“The presence of Indian Navy warships and air surveillance in the region has been enhanced,” stated the Indian Navy officials. The Navy is also actively reaching out with national maritime agencies for implementing effective security measures.

With sea being the lifeline of global trade, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said recently that nearly 62 per cent of the global GDP is in the Indo Pacific region that houses four of the top five economies of the USA, China, Japan and Bharat. Sharing more statistics, he stated that even the top 10 export destinations are in the area and about half of the global trade transits through the maritime routes in the region.

Talking about India, he stated “..about 90 per cent of trade by volume, more than 70 per cent by value and nearly 90 percent of our oil imports are transported by the sea. As much as four fifths of Bharat’s oil, half of the natural gas and half of LPG is imported from the Indo-Pacific nations.

The Indian Navy is also carrying out a detailed examination of the drone attack on the ships by Houthi rebels. Indian Navy officials believe that the turbulence in the water is not going to subside early given the recent conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine which is not showing any signs of abetting.

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