Click to play videoNew Delhi: Faced with the increasing menace of piracy in international waters, the Government has empowered the Indian Navy to use force against pirates attacking merchant ships.
On Tuesday morning, the Navy used the free hand to foil two separate piracy bids by Somali pirates to hijack an Indian and a Saudi Arabian merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
According to the Indian Navy statement, at 1030 Hrs IST, M V Jag Arnav — a 38,000-ton Indian cargo ship — transmitted an SOS message about a hijack attempt on it about 60 nautical miles east of Aden.
Indian Navy stealth frigate INS Tabar — recently deployed in Somali waters to curb piracy — picked up the signal and immediately sent out an armed helicopter with marine commandoes, who fired at the pirates, eventually forcing them to beat a hasty retreat.
“This timely and successful intervention led to the pirates aborting their attempt. The naval ship escorted the Indian merchant ship to safety," Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Nirad Sinha said.
Earlier India's position on the use of military force against criminals in international waters was ambiguous. In fact, only recently it had imposed on the Navy a blanket ban to act on its own against pirates.
However, a spate in the number of piracy bids, especially in Somali waters, has now forced a change in Indian Government's hand-off policy.
Navy Chief Admiral Suresh Mehta issued standing instructions to his force to act against pirates.
In a statement, he said: "Indian Naval ships operating in piracy-infested areas have the mandate to ensure the safety of our sovereign assets. Piracy is a crime which all men of war are required to combat at all times".
Though Gulf of Aden is an important maritime route, it is also one of the most dangerous in the world.
And even as the fate of 18 Indian crew members on the hijacked Japanese tanker Stolt Valor remains uncertain, India has declared open seasons against piracy.
Many say the incident of gunmen seizing the Stolt Valor — a chemical tanker which was on its way to India — has made the Government wiser and forced it to exercise its military clout in the waters around Somalia.
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