Indian Submarine Conducts First Ever Port Call In Indonesia
An Indian Navy submarine docked in Indonesia from 22-24 February for the first time ever. The submarine arrived in Jakarta after transiting through the Sunda Strait. Meanwhile, India reaffirmed cooperation with Seychelles by signing a maritime security Memorandum of Understanding and also with Mauritius by supplying an ALH Dhruv helicopter.
The three day port call at Jakarta by Kilo class submarine INS Sindhukesari on an ‘operational turnaround’ is the first such submarine deployment to a country in Southeast Asia by India. India currently cooperates with Indonesia on the port of Sabang. Indonesia is also interested in Indian defence equipment, including the BrahMos cruise missile.
Indian warships and aircraft have increasingly transited the disputed South China Sea, visiting countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Japan. However, the public deployment of a submarine through the strategic Sunda Strait, between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, demonstrates India’s willingness to try and counter increasing naval deployments by China to the Indian Ocean Region.
India has used Muscat and Duqm ports in Oman for operational turnarounds of submarines since 2017. Dozens of warships and aircraft have also used Oman for such transits. Further to the south of Oman, the African island nation of Seychelles also has close ties with India. The two nations regularly conduct joint patrols in the western Indian Ocean along with transfer of equipment, deployments and training.
This relationship has been enhanced by an MoU between India’s maritime monitoring centre IFC-IOR and Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), Seychelles on 21 February. The MoU aims to promote collaboration between the two centres towards enhancing maritime domain awareness, information sharing and expertise development.
The maritime security architecture in the western Indian Ocean is supported by the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC), RCOC and the national centres of the seven signatory countries: Comoros, Djibouti, France, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. This will now be enhanced with the cooperation of IFC-IOR.
On 24 February, an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft landed in Mauritius with an ALH MK-III helicopter for the Police Helicopter Squadron of Mauritius. The MK-III variant of the HAL Dhruv ALH is primarily meant for maritime operations. The Indian High Commission in Mauritius also announced the extension of lease of an existing ALH MK-I for two more years till March 2025.
Mauritius relies on India for its security needs. India is currently constructing a large airstrip on Agalega island, widely expected to be used by visiting Indian military assets in the future.
These initiatives, while geographically separated, marks India’s consistent attempts to cement its role as the ‘net security provider’ in the Indian Ocean Region.