defenceandspacediary
10 News the Newsbehind JULY 08, 2019are part of Modi’s $250-billion military
modernization plan to arm the South
Asian nation at a time when it faces
threats in its maritime waters from its
neighbor China. Beijing has in the past
sent its warships to the Indian Ocean
region, ostensibly for providing security
to its oil tankers.
“In addition to the above, a few
more request for proposals for more
shipbuilding projects are likely to be
issued in the next few months,” the
statement said.
Indian Navy targets a fl eet of 200
warships by 2027 but is woefully short
with a current strength of 140 warships.
The Coast Guard too plans to have
200 vessels by 2022, but is short by 35
ships.
(Th e Economic Times)INDIA SHOULD ACT AS
GUARANTOR OF PEACE
AND STABILITY IN INDIAN
OCEAN REGION: ABDULLA
SHAMAAL
Th e Institute for Defence Studies and
Analyses (IDSA) organised a lecture by
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Maldives
National Defence Force (MNDF), Maj.
Gen. Abdulla Shamaal, on ‘National
Security Vulnerabilities: Issues for Small
States’ on July 05, 2019.
Speaking about Maldives’ ‘India First
Policy’, Maj. Gen. Shamaal acknowledged
India as a regional security provider and
observed that India has often been a fi rst
responder to crises in the region and it
should play a key role as a guarantor
of peace and stability in the Indian
Ocean region. He said countries in the
region could draw many positive lessons
from Indian culture and its democratic
traditions.
Maj. Gen. Shamaal said that smaller
states might lack the physical attributes
of larger states and lack economic power,
but have strategic signifi cance that could
be leveraged against in their dealings with
larger countries. Smaller states require a
stable regional and international order
to grow as they need to expand their
infl uence in the international arena and
also value their autonomy in decision
making, he argued.
He held that radicalisation and violent
extremism posed a critical threat to the
states in the region and citing the case of
the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka he said that
it was a very complex and complicated
issue which required multi-domain,
multi-agency and multi-structural
approach by various states to counter this
menace, with a “whole of Government”
and “Whole of Society” approach.
Maj. Gen Shamaal said that the
international environment today is
extremely turbulent and volatile due
to multi-layered complexities and
uncertainties which often become
unmanageable because of incomplete
and ambiguous information sharing by
states and security agencies. Th erefore,
there was a need for collective action, he
emphasised.
He regarded climate change as the
important threat being faced by Maldives
and said that the rising water levels and
temperatures are posing a critical threat
to the marine ecology around Maldives
as well as threatening to submerge many
islands.
In his Welcome Address, Director
General, IDSA, Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy
said that India has all along supported
Maldives’ transition to democracy and
has assisted in strengthening institutions
on the basis of Maldives’ priorities. It has
also provided critical help to Maldives in
times of crises in 1988, during Tsunami
2004 and the water crisis in 2014.
Amb. Chinoy said that India’s
Neighbourhood First policy and its
emphasis on shared prosperity and
religion complements Maldives India
First Policy. India is now strengthening
defence and security ties with the Islandnation by working together on maritime
domain awareness, coordinated patrolling,
Aerial surveillance, information exchange
etc.
Referring to close defence and security
ties between India and Maldives, Amb.
Chinoy said that stronger India-Maldives
ties could strengthen multi-polarity in
the Indo-Pacific region and together
the two countries could build an open
and inclusive strategic and economic
architecture.
Th e lecture was a part of the Eminent
Persons’ Lecture Series at IDSA and was
attended by eminent personalities from
the strategic community.AIR FORCE
RAFALE FIGHTERS COMING
IN SEPTEMBER
Many Pubby writing in the Economic
Times reports that India will get its fi rst
Rafale fighter jets in September. The
modern fi ghters — to be armed with
the SCALP ground attack missiles that
have a range well over 300 km — will
be fl own by Indian pilots in France for
at least 1,500 hours as part of the testing
and acceptance process.
Indian pilots, writes Pubby, will
undergo extensive training on the jets in
France as part of the contract and will
initially be given lessons on simulators
for the full range of missions planned
with the fl eet. While Indian teams are
already in France to oversee the project,
Indian pilots have been getting extensive
exposure to Rafale characteristics at
bilateral air combat drills.
Senior air force offi cers say that the
performance of the Rafale — specially
the exceptional Meteor missile that out
ranges every Pakistani air force jet and the
SCALP that can virtually cover every inch
of the neighbouring nation — makes a
case for inducting the fi ghters in greater
numbers.