India’s External Affairs Minister, Mr Natwar Singh, while attending the ASEAN - plus 3 meetings and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Jakarta in July 2004, had noted that India was ready to provide security in the Malacca Straits and stressed that it was in India's national interest to ensure that the Strait remained a crime-free sea-lane.

Among the several congratulatory letters received by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh on his reelection, the message from the French President Nicolas Sarkozy merits attention. While inviting Prime Minster Manmohan Singh to be the Chief Guest at the forthcoming ceremonies marking the National Day of France on July 14, Sarkozy has praised the Indian democratic system and alluded ‘ to the values of liberty, people's sovereignty and respect of diversity in secularism'.

The Indian Navy was recently briefed on the Aegis ballistic missile defence (BMD) system for ships. The US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin had discussions with Indian authorities and reports suggest that they are ‘open to collaboration’ with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on integrating the Prithvi Air Defence Shield (PADS) with the Aegis system.

With a slice of more than 15 percent of the global aerospace market – both civil and military, currently estimated to be over $ 300 billion per annum with a near double digit projected growth over the next ten years, it is no surprise that the Bangalore Aero-India show has not only attracted gorillas like the Boeing, Lockheed, BAe (British Aerospace) or the European major EADS but also offered opportunities for aerospace chimpanzees (mid-sized companies like Embraer, Israeli Aircraft Industry) as well as marmosets (like HAL).

The fragile truce, effective from February 23, 2002, between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE was finally shattered after the Tamil Tiger rebels blew up a Sri Lankan navy Dvora class gunboat outside Trincomalee harbour on January 5, 2006. The suicide attack was the work of an LTTE owned explosives-packed fishing boat that rammed into the naval vessel resulting in 13 sailors missing and presumed dead. Earlier, three sailors aboard a smaller naval patrol craft were killed more than two weeks ago in a sea battle with rebels off the northwestern town of Mannar.

With sensors and submarine detection methods getting more sophisticated and advanced, the primary advantage of a submarine, its ability to operate undetected and unobserved, has been getting vitiated because of the need to surface frequently for recharging batteries. Even coming up to snorkel depth, while evading human visual capabilities, is now well within the cognisant ability of advanced ‘eyes in the sky’.

Two piracy attacks in less than a fortnight on Japanese flagged vessels transiting through the Malacca Strait have shaken up the government in Tokyo as also the national shipping agencies. On March 14, armed pirates in three fishing boats boarded a Japanese-flag ocean tug MV Idaten towing a large construction barge Kurooshia, for Myanmar in the Straits of Malacca. They kidnapped the Japanese Master and two engineers. Later, the Royal Malaysian police patrol boats escorted the tug and towed the vessel to Penang.

The unprecedented destruction caused by Tsunami waves on December 26 last year, is not only a rare phenomenon for Indian Ocean countries, but it is also unique as it witnessed intense diplomatic maneuvering in the name of aid. The aid flowing from donor countries carry not only humanitarian assistance but are also seen as a diplomatic tool used to further their foreign policy objectives. The first move in this regard was made by India while coping with the disaster on its eastern shores. It is interesting to note that despite suffering loss of almost 15,000 lives and need for Rs.

Containerised cargo system has emerged as the most convenient and cost effective mode of transporting large volumes of goods. It has reduced handling time by minimising break-bulk operations thereby permitting the shipping infrastructure to keep up with increasing volumes of goods to be transported. But it has its own problems that seem to take a back seat particularly with the international maritime shipping system who believe in the philosophy of maximising profits and in most cases at the cost of security.