The Indian Navy has ruled out joining any US-led or European-led anti-piracy initiative in the Gulf of Aden on account of differences in operational procedures, but the Indian Navy is coordinating anti-piracy efforts with all other navies in the region, including those of the Americans and Europeans, well-placed defence sources have said.
The difference in operational procedure is that while the Indian Navy escorts ships from one point to another, the Americans and Europeans have devised a grid system by dividing the piracy-infested seas in the Gulf of Aden into grids or blocks. The US Navy and European navies station ships in a block and wait for a ship to send a distress signal before swinging into action. The Indian Navy escorts merchant ships but this practice has not been adopted by the US and European navies. Indian Navy sources said the US and European navies were keen on the Indian Navy joining this grid system but the Indian Navy has not. “We feel that the practice of escorting ships from point A to point B is far more effective rather than joining a grid system,” defence sources said. Sources said there had been no incident of ships being hijacked by pirates when these were being escorted by the Indian Navy and added that this proved that the operational procedure followed by the Indian Navy was sound.