S African Navy Chief Visits India

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) India and South Africa today deliberated upon formulations for a system of regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region to combat threats from non-state actors -- particularly terrorists and sea pirates.

During discussions here, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and his visiting counterpart from South Africa Vice Admiral J Mudimu stressed the need for such a mechanism in the IOR as ''a very important step'' towards curbing the menace of global terrorism and piracy.

The South African Defence Forces are reputed for their yeomen service in the field of peacekeeping and are increasingly involved in playing a leading role in resolving conflicts in various African countries.

Vice Admiral Mudimu arrived here today on a six-day visit -- his first to India after taking over the reins of the South African Navy -- at the invitation of Admiral Mehta. The visit is part of the regular exchange of high-level visits between the two friendly countries, an official spokesperson here said.

During further meetings here, the two sides were expected to explore mechanisms to activate the trilateral IBSA (India-Brazil- South Africa) interaction and, in this regard, consider the possible conduct of a naval exercise involving the Navies of all three nations.

The exercise would seek to establish commonalities of operational approaches and aim for procedural interoperability in the first instance. It was likely to be held in May 2008 as the first step towards the larger integration of the Navies under the South-South Dialogue, the spokesperson said.

Admiral Mudimu's visit was expected to further strengthen the cordial relations between India and South Africa and contribute to the Indian Navy's ongoing efforts to build 'bridges of friendship' and promote maritime cooperation towards ensuring the security of international shipping lanes -- the lifelines of energy and trade.

India and South Africa enjoy excellent bilateral relations built on the historical ties that existed between the two countries during the apartheid era and cemented, thereafter, by shared interests and commonalties.

India has had traditionally close ties with the African National Congress during the days of its struggle against apartheid. After the establishment of diplomatic ties, this relationship had now translated into a 'Strategic Partnership' -- a term used not only to describe India's close historical ties with the ANC but also define the contours of a broader cooperative partnership which encompassed both bilateral and multilateral areas.

In the bilateral sphere, Defence cooperation was an important element of this partnership, the spokesperson observed.

The installation of a non-racial and a democratically-elected Government in South Africa in 1994 opened up new avenues for Defence exchanges between India and South Africa. The 'Tshwane Declaration' made during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit in September-October 2006 had noted the progress made in bilateral Defence cooperation and alluded to the possibility of joint research and development.

Opportunities exist for the two vibrant multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual democracies to share experiences on a variety of subjects including perhaps South Africa gaining from the Indian experience and success in the management of cultural diversity in the Armed Forces.

UNI