India calls for global strategy to fight piracy

Bangalore, India, Nov 14 (PTI) India today pitched for a collective strategy against the menace of piracy at seas, saying it has become "some kind of a global scourge" and other countries, including China and the US, would have to be involved in the battle against it. Speaking to reporters ahead of the Council of Ministers meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim - Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) here tomorrow, India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the nature of trade (sea) routes are such that piracy cannot be fought by a single country. To a question, he said piracy cannot be fought by the 18-nation regional grouping alone and other countries, including China and the US, would have to be made part of the strategy to fight it. "We will have to strengthen our sea-lane communication systems...", he said. India has formally taken over from Yemen the chair of IOR-ARC for a period of two years. The bilateral trade between India and the rest of the IOR-ARC member countries is USD 280 billion annually comprising USD 160 billion of imports and USD 120 billion of exports, officials said. Krishna said the Indian Ocean has assumed critical role from geo-political point of view. "....it's necessary for all the countries associated wtih Indian Ocean Rim to pool their efforts in order to understand the dynamics of the situation", he said. Krishna said political networking relationship among the 18-member grouping would be strengthened. Besides India and Yemen, the countries in the grouping are: Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and the UAE. PTI