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The US Seventh Fleet announced that one of its warships, USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), had carried out an operation west of Lakshadweep Islands, inside India’s exclusive economic zone, without requesting India’s prior consent.
The US described it as a Freedom of Navigation operation consistent with international law. India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1995. But, the United States has not done it so far. India and the United States have a conflicting view on the interpretation of this UN law which anyhow Washington has not ratified.
Such operations by the US warships are nothing new. The US warships have navigated into Indian territorial waters without New Delhi’s consent several times in the past too. But, such operations were silently done and no publicity was given earlier. Now the US not only chose to make it public but described it as legitimate operations “to check India’s excessive maritime claims”.
The timing of the operations is surprising. It comes days after the first-ever virtual summit of the Quadrilateral grouping and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin’s visit to New Delhi. The QUAD leaders are expected to meet in person later this year. QUAD is a US-led anti-China axis that India joined along with Japan and Australia. The US warships conducted similar such “freedom of navigation operations” in the South China Sea to embarrass its adversary China. But the US acting in a similar manner towards India that has of late become its strategic ally is reprehensible.
Reacting to US operations, India said: “We have conveyed our concerns regarding this passage through our EEZ to the Government of USA through diplomatic channels.”
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “The USS John Paul Jones was continuously monitored transiting from the Persian Gulf towards the Malacca Straits.”
“The Government of India’s stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is that the Convention does not authorize other States to carry out in the Exclusive Economic Zone and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state,” it said.
But the statement by the US Navy said, “India requires prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvres in its exclusive economic zone or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law. This freedom of navigation operation (“FONOP”) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging India’s excessive maritime claims”.
Under Indian law — The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone, and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 — “all foreign ships (other than warships including submarines and other underwater vehicles) shall enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial waters” and a passage is innocent “so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of India”.
“Foreign warships including submarines and other underwater vehicles may enter or pass through the territorial waters after giving prior notice to the Central Government,” the law states.
Therefore the US unilateral operation constitutes a gratuitous challenge to India’s sovereignty as the statement of the Seventh Fleet makes it clear that this operation was for “challenging India’s maritime claims”.
The Modi government’s response to this hostile act is to mildly assert that the passage of military ships through India’s EEZ requires its consent, something which the United States refuses to accept.
Having joined the Quad alliance, the Modi government has bound itself to serve American interests in the Asia-Pacific region which Washington rechristened as Indo-Pacific in a bid to lure India into its strategic embrace. Thus, India has compromised its position by subscribing to the American formulation of “freedom of navigation” in the Indo-Pacific region.
India’s mild response to Washington’s violation of Indian sovereignty and subsequent aggressive posturing reflect New Delhi’s strategic compromise under the Modi dispensation.
-By Prof K Nageshwar
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