Parrikar's comments weaken case for removal of piracy high risk area off Indian shores

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar's comment that Somali pirates are "shifting their locations” towards India has punched a hole in the country's ongoing case in international forums for a rollback of the extended piracy "high risk area (HRA)” that covers the entire Arabian Sea.
Parrikar's statement, on the sidelines of an international conference in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, has led to disquiet in the external affairs and shipping ministries as well as his own defence ministry, among other stakeholders.
"It weakens our stand that the HRA zone should revert to west of 65 degree east longitude because the piracy threat remains widespread off Somalia, Oman, Yemen and Gulf of Aden. It was in June 2010 that the HRA was extended eastwards till 78 degree east longitude,” said an official.
What strengthens India's case is that there has been no piracy attack east of the 65 degree longitude, or within 450 nautical miles of the Indian coast, since April 2012 due to sustained anti-piracy patrols by the Coast Guard and Navy.
But as per reports from Bhubaneshwar, Parrikar said: "Somali pirates, after being neutralised by various countries' navies, are shifting their locations towards India. Because their (shipping) lanes are heavily-guarded, they have moved 30-40 nautical miles, although they still are 450 nautical miles from India.” The minister could not be contacted on Tuesday since he was in Goa.
India, with the external affairs ministry being the lead agency, has been pushing hard for over two years to get the high seas on its western seaboard — including its Exclusive Economic Zone – out of the HRA zone but without any success till now.
The extended HRA, promulgated by international shipping bodies in conjunction with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has caused several problems for India. One, it has led merchant shipping vessels to virtually hug the Indian coast during their transit eastwards, complicating matters for India. Many of these ships have armed guards, which in turn can lead to incidents like the killing of two Indian fishermen by Italian marines on board Enrica Lexie in 2012.
Second, it has led to higher costs to the shipping industry, with huge insurance premiums, hike in freight charges, hiring of private security guards and the like. The surge in "floating armouries” off the west coast, in fact, can even provide a cover for terrorists to infiltrate into India.
Over 140 private security companies currently operate in the north Indian Ocean to hire out armed security personnel, who shift between vessels on the high seas without any monitoring. India has also called for a proper framework by the IMO to regulate such floating armouries.