New Delhi to join 34-nation Bahrain-based naval force

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, May 24

India will be joining as an associate member of the 34-nation Combined Military Forces (CMF) at Bahrain. It was agreed upon following a meeting between PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Tokyo today.

US, allies members

• Combined Military Forces is tasked with keeping an eye on the shipping lanes through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal that connects Europe with Asia
• Several parts along the coast of Somalia are prone to piracy. India has been patrolling these seas independently since 2008
• The US and its allies, besides several Asian countries like Pakistan, are part of the Bahrain-based forces

The CMF is tasked with keeping an eye on the shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Suez Canal that connects Europe with Asia. Several parts along the coast of Somalia are prone to piracy. India, so far, has been patrolling these seas independently since 2008. The US and its allies, besides several Asian countries like Pakistan, are part of the Bahrain-based forces.

Also, the crucial Indo-Pacific partnership for maritime domain awareness has been established. India already has an agreement of its own to exchange real-time information in Asia and the far-east. The formalisation would mean smoother information-sharing. The Indian Navy operates Information Management and Analysis Centre that collates real-time imagery from several locations to provide a picture to commanders at sea of any approaching threats.

India and the US are working on expanding the partnership on critical and emerging technologies, spearheaded by the respective National Security Councils.

Cooperation in space, cyber and artificial intelligence is crucial in future conflicts. India and the US look to match China, which, in the past four years, has doubled its space assets doing intelligence gathering and surveillance and can monitor, track and target forces of other countries worldwide, especially in the Indo-Pacific.

A report, “Challenges to Security in Space — 2022”, released by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, stated, “As of January 2022, China’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite fleet contained more than 250 systems — a quantity second only to the US.”