Muscat: In the backdrop of terrorists
using sea routes to carry out attacks and rising piracy
incidents in the Gulf of Aden, India and Oman on Tuesday agreed to
jointly fight the twin menace and accelerate their
cooperation.
Defence Minister A K Antony met his Omanese
counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi here and
the two sides agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the
field.
"Maritime security is one of the issues that are
causing concern to countries around the world and it has
become a global concern due to the pirate attacks in the Gulf
of Aden," Antony said during his meeting.
"After the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008,
issues of maritime security have emerged as a major aspect of
India`s security concerns," he added.
"Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been growing over
the years and has now assumed alarming proportions," he
said, calling for joint efforts by nations with common
interest in the region.
Giving details of the anti-piracy measures taken by
India, he said the Navy had commenced patrols in the Gulf of
Aden from October 2008 to protect Indian-flag ships and Indian
citizens employed in sea-faring duties.
"A total of 16 Indian Navy ships have been deployed in
the Gulf of Aden since. In addition to escorting Indian flag
ships, ships of flying flags of other nations too have been
escorted," he said.
"We are cooperating with other Navies deployed in this
area by way of information sharing and have been participating
in the Shared Awareness and De-Cofliction (SHADE) meetings
since April 2009," he added.
Referring to Afghanistan, Antony said both India and
Oman shared their concerns over the terrorists finding a safe
haven there.
"We (India and Oman) have a common aim in Afghanistan
and that is to ensure that it does not become a base of safe
haven for terrorists again. We want a stable, moderate,
unified and democratic Afghanistan," he said.
Antony said India’s efforts in Afghanistan were
focussed on economic and social development activities. "We
intend to continue such activities even though we have lost
personnel and have suffered attacks on our embassy in Kabul,"
he added.
PTI
