Indo-Japan Joint Naval Exercise

What is JIMEX 12?

• It is the first joint exercise ever between the two navies of India and Japan, in June 2012.
• What will they do in JIMEX 12 Naval Exercise?
• The focus of JIMEX 12 exercise is primarily in the sphere of Maritime Security Cooperation.  
• These include Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Relief (HADR) operations and Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) drills, which form a part of Anti-Piracy operations.
• Exercises of these nature enhance inter-operability thereby enabling the two navies to smoothly function together in the sphere of maritime security / HADR operations, should the need arise.
• Interoperatibility is a keystone in India’s current foreign policy, we keep doing joint army, navy, airforce exercises with friendly nations, so in case of “should the need arise” we can work with them and fight common “enemy”

Importance

• It marks a significant advance in the maritime cooperation between India and Japan.
• Until now, Tokyo was only letting its Coast Guard participate in the exchanges with India.
• Japan’s preference was for multilateral maritime engagement with others along with its treaty-ally and guarantor of its national security — the United States.
• With JIMEX 12, Japan has also shed its political inhibitions about bilateral naval exercises with India.

What we gain ?

• During the Cold War, and Pre-1991 LPG reforms, India was inward looking and its economy was closed, the navy’s primary tasks were to protect the nation’s territorial waters and deny its near seas to other powers.
• Today, with a globalised economy — our exports and imports account for 40 per cent of the GDP — the navy can’t secure India’s expanding regional maritime interests on its own.
• The government has been deploying ships of the Indian Navy on Eastbound long range deployments in keeping with India’s ‘Look East’ policy, and to strengthen military ties with the countries of this strategically important region.
• Building maritime coalitions, developing special regional relationships and establishing interoperability with other naval forces — big and small — must be at the very top of India’s defence diplomacy in Indo-Pacific.
• The expanding engagement with the Japanese navy, one of the strongest in the world, should give a boost to India’ maritime diplomacy in Asia.

Anti-Strings of Pearl: South China Sea Domination

• Some time back, ONGC Videsh had aquired offshore oil blocks from Vietnaam in South China Sea.
• But after Chinese Government objected, ONGC pulled out and stopped drilling, and this move was seen by the world as if India had surrendered to Chinese pressure.
• Therefore, Special relationships with key regional states and greater coordination with other naval powers are critical for an effective Indian strategy in the South China Sea. India’s joint exercise with Japan, sends a strong message that India’s interest in the waters of East Asia is enduring and its naval presence in the Western Pacific is here to stay.
• Similarly, The Indian navy is also seeking greater interoperability with the maritime forces of its smaller neighbours like Sri Lanka and the Maldives and such Indian Ocean partners as Seychelles and the Maldives, to counter China's Strings of Pearl Strategy, under which China is constructing naval bases around the Indian Ocean, to encircle India (and possibly cut India's crude oil supply, and naval-trade with other nations in case of a war).