Date: September 30th 2005

From: mw_mod <mw_mod@yahoo.com>; Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005

UPA ocean diplomacy undermining Indian interests
By Prof. M.D. Nalapat

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?
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Why has the UPA government put in cold storage moves to legalise the
doubling of the ocean area controlled by India, from 3.2 million sq
kms to 6.4 million sq kms? This would be by expanding the country's
Exclusive Economic Zone to the full 320 miles (from the coast)
granted to the 32 countries in the world that possess a continental
shelf.

Under Article 76 of the 1982 UN Convention on Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS), India can extend its legal reach to include 3.2 million sq
kms of ocean floor.Of this, 80 per cent falls within the "Eastern
Claim Zone", where the only other country involved is Sri Lanka,
which is a friendly power. Less than 200,000 sq kms of ocean floor is
in the zone facing Pakistan, which—together with Bangladesh—has shown
a consistent tendency towards refusing to settle its disputes with
India, even where such a settlement would benefit it substantially.
Of course, for some reason, successive Indian governments have
pampered Bangladesh and Pakistan while neglecting Sri Lanka.

On the westward seabed, apart from Pakistan there is only the
Maldives, which has already settled its claims amicably with New
Delhi. Islamabad would not refuse at least a partial agreement that
sets the boundaries for around 85 per cent of the area contested,
possibly leaving aside the portion concerning Sir Creek, which the
Pakistanis claim is disputed. As for Bangladesh, fortunately that
country has very little seabed area that it can legitimately contest,
although both Dhaka and Islamabad have been seeking to frustrate a
settlement with India by raising issues such as "equity" that are not
in the relevant sections of the UN Charter.

It is not surprising that Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are client
states of the US and China, seek to avoid coming to an agreement with
India. The US, China, Japan and the European Union, not to mention
smaller players such as South Korea, would like to prevent New Delhi
from getting legitimised its claim to an additional 1.2 million sq
kms of ocean floor beyond the 2.2 million that India can claim under
the "200 mile" rule. These countries would be reluctant to see a
settlement that would give India exclusive jurisdiction over large
tracts of the ocean floor that are known to be mineral-rich,
including oil, natural gas and even in strategic materials. The
steady improvement in deep water exploration techniques is resulting
in a quantum jump in the volume of resources potentially exploitable
by India, a country with a proven capacity in ocean exploration.
Estimates are that an investment of Rs 500 crore in exploration and
exploitation would yield Rs 6000 crore in ocean wealth, surely a
compelling argument for an early legitimisation of the Indian claim.
Surprisingly, even though all the data needed for this is already in
its possession, the UPA government has not moved for a formal
recognition of India's extended claim.

Given a rational policy of exploitation of seabed wealth, the
Ministry of Ocean Development has the potential to generate more
wealth for the country than the Ministries of Steel, Coal and
Petroleum together, especially in view of the lacklustre performance
of all the three.

Astonishingly, as yet, New Delhi has not taken even preliminary steps
towards legalising its jurisdiction over 320 miles from the present
200 miles (from the coast). If India does not get legal recognition
of its claim from the UN Commission on Limits to Continental Shelf
(UNCLCS) before 2009, an extra 1.2 million sq kms of ocean would be
legally available to any other country in the world. When that
deadline for ratification of claims expires, any country in the world
could move in to this enormous zone and mine its resources after
paying a small royalty to the International Seabed Authority (ISBA).
Amazingly, the previous Secretary for Ocean Development to the
Government of India was of the view that "As the deadline is only in
2009, there was no need for hurry".

Apparently he has not bothered to draw the correct lessons from
Russia's experience. Although Moscow filed its claim in 2001, as yet
it has not been ratified, owing to disputes with some of its
neighbours. New Delhi needs to set aside at least 36 months for
adjudication of its claim, which means that it needs to submit it to
UNCLCS before the end of this year. Sadly, the new Secretary of Ocean
Development has no knowledge of oceans at all, having spent his
professional working life in Space. He too has been taking the same
leisurely view on seeking ratification as his predecessor. Countries
such as the US, France, the UK, China and even Norway that have
expertise in dredging the ocean floor are presumably delighted at
such paralysis.

New Delhi has not taken even preliminary steps towards legalising its
jurisdiction over 320 miles from the present 200 miles (from the
coast). If India does not get legal recognition of its claim from the
UN Commission on Limits to Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) before 2009, an
extra 1.2 million sq kms of ocean would be legally available to any
other country in the world.

As 80 per cent of the potential claim area concerns only Sri Lanka
and India, it would seem obvious that New Delhi needs to bring its
neighbour on board in a common strategy of securing ratification.
However, New Delhi has thus far refused Sri Lanka's request to help
in the gathering of data in its potential zone. As the cost of such
assistance Rs 25 crore) would be less than that of a major Vigyan
Bhavan jamboree, such parsimony at the expense of a speedy resolution
of a matter that concerns incalculable ocean wealth seems
incomprehensible, unless hidden hands are at work to deliberaely
delay India's claim till it becomes too late. Is it that the allies
of the UPA who have sympathy for the cause of "Tamil Eelam" are
putting subtle pressure on the Congress leadership to refuse help to
Colombo? Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that the Minister for
Science and Technology,

Kapil Sibal, has thus far been unable to get his government to file
India's claim for a 320-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, even though the
needed surveys have been completed, at a cost of Rs 90 crore.

Estimates are that an investment of Rs 500 crore in exploration and
exploitation would yield Rs 6000 crore in ocean wealth, surely a
compelling argument for an early legitimisation of the Indian claim.

Experts point out that India needs to get its claim settled before
2007, the year when the Indian representative in the 21-member UNCLCS
retires and is expected to be replaced by a delegate from Pakistan.
Unless, of course, the Government of India believes that a Pakistani
national would better protect India's interests than one of our own
nationals! Those watching the sad fate of Sarabjit Singh must wonder
as to why and how for so many years, nothing was done to protect the
rights of Indian citizens. That was one citizen. Today, by refusing
to get ratified India's claim for a 320-mile limit, the UPA
government is affecting the rights of over a billion citizens.

Apart from the danger that 1.2 million sq km of ocean floor that
would otherwise become the exclusive property of India would become
a "free" resource, another reason why speed is desirable is the
rising cost of ocean exploration. It is estimated that for every Rs
1000 spent on such activity today, the cost would rise to Rs 3800 by
2009. Indeed, by increasing its ocean-harvesting capabilities, India
would be able to bring down costs. This is especially relevant given
the skewed geographical distribution of minerals within the country
and the crippling shortage of oil. Estimates are that the ocean floor
can make India self-sufficient in oil and gas in a few years, if
mined properly. For some reason, the ONGC seems as little concerned
about securing the rights to the resources of the ocean seabed as the
Department of Oceans itself. The policy of the UPA government appears
to be to make life as easy for competing nations as is possible,
a "Gujrallian" policy of generosity run amok. Dr Murli Manohar Joshi,
as Minister for Ocean Development, speeded up data collection and was
in the process of filing the claim to the full extent of ocean floor
legally available to India when the BJP-led coalition was defeated in
May 2004. Since then, there has been zero effort to complete the
process by submission of the claim and ensuring its ratification.
Why? Who within the UPA is interested in favouring the US, China, the
EU and Japan over India?

Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, as Minister for Ocean Development,
speeded up data collection and was in the process of
filing the claim to the full extent of ocean floor
legally available to India when the BJP-led
coalition was defeated.

Dr Manmohan Singh needs to intervene so that India lodges its claim
for extension of its zone to the full 320 miles, as well as gives
assistance to Sri Lanka to secure data for its own claim. Such data
would prove invaluable not just in a civilian context, but also in
case there erupts a fresh conflict between India and elements in the
island. The information secured from the ocean surveys would help the
Indian Navy to ensure that those hostile to India are dealt with
expeditiously and efficiently. To abandon such advantages for the
sake of saving Rs 25 crore seems yet another case of a "penny wise,
pound foolish" attitude. In case Pakistan and Bangladesh, refuse a
reasonable settlement, India can take recourse to the provision in
UNCLOS to set the median as the claim line between countries among
which there is dispute.

Given a rational policy of exploitation of seabed wealth, the
Ministry of Ocean Development has the potential to generate more
wealth for the country than the Ministries of Steel, Coal and
Petroleum together, especially in view of the lacklustre performance
of all the three. In the case of Petroleum, for example, during the
16 months that the UPA has been in office, it has not secured the
rights to any significant oil or gas field, being usually pipped by
the country that Oil Minister Aiyar and his CPM-CPI allies love,
China. During NDA rule India secured valuable oil properties,
including in Sudan and Russia. India, by doubting the ocean area
under its sovereignty can create an oceanic "Akhand Bharat" by
entirely peaceful means.


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