INTRODUCTION

An ocean that divides continents can also unite people and countries. The Indian Ocean, washing the shores of three continents, thirty six littorals and six cricket loving nations, has divided countries on either side for too long a period. This has prevented regional powers from uniting in an ‘Indian Ocean Rim trade block’ as suggested by South Africa’s former foreign minister, Pik Botha and elaborated on by the South African Foundation in February 1991. Smaller countries that can be included in such an ocean community, apart from India, South Africa and Australia, are Mozambique, Mauritius, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Comores, Reunion, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania. Other bigger countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia may join later, and it could be expanded into a ‘Southern Oceans Community’ with countries from South America, such as Brazil and the Argentine, included to encourage more South-to-South co-operation among developing countries.

This would be in line with transcontinental groups giving way to ocean communities, such as the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEF), Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). In the case of ASEAN and APEF, the formation of these ocean communities that are centred around oceanic highways, has created a market comprising roughly 300 million people, with preferential trade agreements that approximate the size of the European Community.

Following the far-reaching changes in South Africa’s economic, social and political policies, it is apparent that the country’s sophisticated financial, industrial and communication infrastructure can become a powerful engine for growth among countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the island nations along the traditional Cape Route. South Africa has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about R112 billion, a figure equal to the total of all 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa’s large economy with both ‘third’ and ‘first’ world characteristics, is substantial enough to raise the country’s overall status to that of a middle income nation with a per capita income of approximately US $700.

SOUTH AFRICA’S INDIAN OCEAN SEABED

South Africa is surrounded by both the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean with a coastline of about 3 000 kilometres. The major seaports of Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Simon’s Town, handling 115 million tons of freight per annum, are all situated on the Indian Ocean. This figure represents approximately ninety per cent of South African imports and exports, excluding oil, and comprises 23 per cent of the country’s GDP. The same pattern applies to the South African Custom Union (SACU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose access ports, Dar Es Salaam and Mombassa are also situated on the eastern seaboard. Many of the rivers in Africa, West Asia and India flow into this ‘ocean of destiny’. Furthermore, the majority of ‘blacks’ and ‘Asians’ in South Africa’s population of 39 million, come from Natal and the Eastern Cape, both flanked by the same ocean.

The orientation towards the east will get stronger as the common interests between South Africa and the Indian Ocean littorals develop. These include the necessity to ensure the free flow of oil, need for greater self-reliance, civil control over military forces and social and economic development. In terms of economic development, it is important to note that nearly a quarter of India’s population of 900 million has a consumer profile similar to that of the average American. In view of Delhi’s consumer potential and credit worthiness, closer regional co-operation in terms of trade and market forces could evolve, particularly among Commonwealth countries in the Southern Indian Ocean region. This would narrow the North-South divide further, even though 33 per cent of the trade of developed countries is already with the ‘third world’.

In this emerging scenario, sea power should not merely be seen as a concept related only to defence and security, but as a multi-disciplinary potential response to a country’s national interest. It must necessarily be in harmony with the socio-economic, geopolitical and techno-strategic characteristics of the region. Maritime co-operation will lead to greater economic opportunities.

In such an environment, ships and aircraft from India can reach South Africa and the island nations in the Indian Ocean from the twelve major ports in India without stopping over, and vice versa. The littorals in the Indian Ocean thus have an advantage in terms of transport costs and transit time. Besides, international waters are less ‘temperamental’ than land boundaries or for that matter air traffic rights. New maritime partnerships between countries with shared priorities for enlarging trade and commerce need to be established. Therefore, South Africa must assist the less developed countries in the modernisation and mechanisation of their ports. This will also serve to create employment opportunities and income for a sizeable portion of Africa’s unemployed. In these ocean activities, navies are uniquely placed in their understanding of the nature and mechanics of the ocean systems and maritime co-operation. Ships, men and material must be capable of meeting all possible tasks that the nation demands of them, including the successful resolution of conflict, if necessary.2

A CHANGED INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

The end of the Cold War, the defeat of Iraq and the dismantling of apartheid saw a reduction in the clash of ideas and ideologies and a change from a bi-polar to a multipolar world. It also led to the strengthening of international monitoring and the growth of a capitalist security system where economic, social and environmental forces altered the security parameters that were applied for nearly four decades. The management of change thus became the major international challenge, with allies and adversaries changing places.3

However, the end of bi-polarity opened the way for violent nationalism that led to proxy wars and an intensification of internal conflicts. In a way, human rights, seen by the West as universal and absolute, rather than regional and relative, as well as attempts to prevent nuclear proliferation and protection of the environment, eroded the traditional concepts of sovereignty. This political-strategic shift coincided with global recession, forcing nations to amend their fiscal, trade and aid policies to comply with accepted standards of ‘normal and acceptable’ expenditure for governments, including defence spending. In this changing gamut of socio-strategic and economic relations, other issues such as environmental management, community rights, nuclear proliferation and defence spending became intertwined with good governance and domestic priorities. A dialectic duality emerged that affected the global security-scene. On the one hand, forces were attempting to move the overburdened international system towards peace and stability, as is evident in the end of the Cold War, the unification of Europe, the West Asia peace process and the reduction in the tactical and strategic nuclear arsenals of the superpowers. On the other hand, destabilising forces in both developed and developing countries led to increased tension and conflict, resulting in increased defence expenditure. It attracted the intervention of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and other funding institutions.

NAVIES IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

The United Nations have undertaken 26 major peace support operations since the second World War, commencing with Indonesia (1947), Palestine (1948), Korea (1950), Gaza (1957) and Congo (1960). However, more than half were undertaken after confrontation between the superpowers declined. Paradoxically, this decline ushered in greater factionalism, sub-nationalism, terrorism, famine, ethnic cleansing, fundamentalism and environmental degradation than evident during the Cold War itself.

Former US Secretary for Defence, Robert McNamara said in a visit to Delhi that he "foresaw a world with more conflicts and tensions between unequal groups - greater ethnic and religious differences and uneven technological advances and economic differentials between developed nations". He predicted that "there would be more defence spending than the present $200 billion per annum which has since fuelled 125 wars resulting in 40 million casualties".4 Strategic co-operation in the Indian Ocean becomes imperative in the light of this prediction, as geographic, demographic and economic disparities continue to be regional features.

The UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Peace of June 1992 puts forth the concepts of ‘preventive diplomacy’, ‘peacemaking’, ‘peacekeeping’, and ‘peacebuilding’.5 This is in addition to the ‘Zone of Peace’ proposal which is contained in the Lusaka Declarations of 1970, a proposal that remains moribund. Other measures to ensure peace and disarmament, such as the Antarctic Convention, outer space missile technology control regimes, weapons conventions, International Sea Bed Authority and environmental protection were reasonably successful. In this context, navies could take the lead in identifying areas for maritime co-operation, that will find a prominent place on the agenda for regional co-operation and UN peacekeeping and can lead to a broadening of the concept of maritime security.

NAVIES IN CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES

With respect to the building of confidence among nations, India has held joint naval exercises to encourage open-mindedness and inter-operability, that are based on reciprocity. The Indian Navy has conducted such exercises in conjunction with Australia, Britain, the United States, Russia, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Iran and Oman. The various training establishments and Staff colleges in India, being less expensive and oriented towards the needs of developing countries, also accept officers from other countries. Even at the height of the Cold War, senior officers from the US, Britain, Iraq and the Soviet Union attended courses at the National Defence College in Delhi. A number of African countries send their cadets and officers to India for training. India has also assisted various countries, among them Nigeria, in setting up Defence Academies and made instructors and training material available.

MARITIME TECHNOLOGY - A FORCE MULTIPLIER

The availability of affordable appropriate technology will not only affect the size, composition and architecture of navies, but also nations’ perceptions of sea power. The transfer of technology to developing countries, especially those without oil revenues, has been hampered by several restrictive regimes and conditions. Despite this, India and South Africa have achieved a large measure of self-reliance through their respective defence research and development programmes.

India has made significant progress in the production of armoured cars, battle tanks, helicopters, fighter aircraft, ships, submarines and missiles, simulators, unmanned aerial vehicles, robotics, space, and others. South Africa, with Armscor and the Denel industrial group, took the same route to equip their defence forces during the arms embargo. The Rooivalk combat helicopter, Rooikat armoured car, Seeker RPV, Cheetah fighter, G-6 155mm self propelled gun and the Valkiri rocket launcher are examples of some of the achievements of the South African arms industry. The mounting costs of technology and the need to minimise duplication, make it politically and economically expedient for both countries to co-operate in the military-industrial sector. Such co-operation could commence with capital intensive maritime hardware.

The present trend is for cheaper platforms on the ground and in the air, to police the Exclusive Economic Zones, ‘show the flag’ and to carry out daily responsibilities. It will be cost effective for a cash strapped South Africa to look at shipyards in South Asia that are constructing modern ‘clean hulls’ at low cost. Similarly, a dual purpose light aircraft with a high definition radar can effectively monitor an arc of 300 miles around the coast. Such joint co-operative ventures need to be explored, particularly with the South African National Defence Force restructuring after the first democratic elections.

NAVIES IN ‘OUT OF AREA OPERATIONS’

Trans-national threats, such as narco-terrorism, sea piracy, marine degradation, illegal immigration and natural disasters such as cyclones, famine, poverty and AIDS, have spawned a multitude of additional roles for navies in what is described as ‘out of sea operations’. Other peace time operations may include monitoring non-military threats, delineation of maritime boundaries, prevention of illegal migration and monitoring resources such as oil, food, water and non-renewable energy in order to diffuse conflicts, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.

The littorals in the Indian Ocean will have to turn increasingly to regional maritime nations such as South Africa, India, Australia and Indonesia with the capacity and capability to come to their aid during natural disasters, off-shore exploitation, internal conflict and to help them to ensure the integrity between adjacent Exclusive Economic Zones. Insurrections in the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives and East Timor are examples where India, South Africa, Australia and Indonesia were asked for assistance.

Furthermore, the Indian Ocean has become a fish pond, a resource mine, an oceanic factory, an energy producer, a rubbish dump and a self-effacing battle ground. This has not only subjected those involved in the sea to everyday economic, political and scientific pressures, but has also added new responsibilities to the Coast Guard, the Naval Forces and general maritime resources.

JOINT MARITIME CENTRES - SAFETY AT SEA

In order to utilise navies cost effectively for national development in addition to their normal military functions, countries will have to avail themselves of communal ship plots and linked communication facilities in the Indian Ocean to enable rapid response in times of crises. These could be situated in Simon’s Town, Durban, Dar Es Salaam, Port Louis, Colombo and Singapore, for instance. They could function as ‘Joint Maritime Centres’ for search and rescue co-ordination. Authority to implement Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), as promulgated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London, should be vested in these centres. These centres could also monitor smuggling, dumping of nuclear waste, prevention of poaching or excessive fishing, as well as deter unauthorised population movements. A Coast Guard, where available, will be a vital adjunct to such maritime centres.

OIL SPILL RESPONSE CENTRES

Throughout the Indian Ocean area, 133 million gallons of oil have been spilled in seventy separate incidents. In the Malacca Straits alone there were five oil spills last year involving 3,5 million tons of oil. The grounding of the Apollo Sea off the Cape Town coast is still fresh in the memories of South Africans. Navies in the region need to structure ‘spill response centres’ with mandatory powers to inspect and route tankers, as is done in Turkey, Italy and France in the Straits of Istanbul, Canakkale, Marmara and Corsica. India is already routing her merchant ships via the Cape to Latin America, calling at the modern ports of South Africa. Such facilities encourage the globalisation of maritime activities. It also increase communication between nations, thereby promoting regional co-operation and improving the economy. Moreover, the high seas have no international frontiers, with the Laws of the Seas convention recognising the uniqueness of what Alfred Thayer Mahan termed the ‘Great Common’.

NAVIES IN REGIONAL MARITIME CO-OPERATION

Regional co-operation must take centre stage in any emerging maritime order. Navies will need to diffuse the existing philosophy of ‘preparing for war in order to ensure peace’, that has belonged to the colonial and Cold War eras. Instead, the new ethos should be ‘if you want peace, prepare to co-operate’. Naval forces are undoubtedly well suited to assist the United Nations in their endeavours to ensure that global peace will prevail.

The United Nations’ Laws of the Seas gave rise to a New Ocean Order on 30 April 1982 that was ratified by all member states and that changed mankind’s way of using and sharing the earth’s greatest single resource, the oceans and the seas. The ‘water planet’, paradoxically called Earth, witnessed a mini-revolution in its oceans that was characterised by the exploration of living and non-living sea resources and the seabed. It was also seen as the cheapest international highway for the transportation of goods. The US, Japan, Russia and France are well ahead in their preparation to extract polymetallic nodules containing manganese, copper, cobalt and nickel from the seabed by the year 2015 in a cost effective manner. It will be in the economic interests of India and South Africa to co-operate in such activities in the coming century. The swords of yesterday could become the ploughshares of tomorrow’s seabed.

Co-operation could extend to include commercial deep sea fishing and the development of the tourist industry in this segment of the Indian Ocean. Furthermore, South Africa and Australia with their financial and technical expertise could find advantages in co-operating with India, with its entrepreneurial and manufacturing skills.

Major maritime nations in the region can assist island nations in the Southern Indian Ocean, where social and economic disparities led to unbalanced development and chaotic urbanisation. This has partially slowed down the efforts of the Indian Ocean Commission established in 1984. However, through co-operation in demographic, economic and market spheres, India contributed to the commercial vitality of the region.

ANTARCTICA

India, Australia and South Africa have abiding interests in Antarctica. India charters an ice breaker every year to replenish the camps in Gangotri and Maitry. Although the Antarctic Treaty has been renewed and action taken to ensure the pristine quality of its environment, it is necessary to ensure that Indian Ocean states have equal access to the living and non-living resources of this ice continent. The joint exploration of the ‘krill’ resources and the establishment of fish processing facilities in South Africa, Mauritius or Seychelles, merit consideration.

A SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN COMMUNITY

The demise of the bi-polar world has generated more factionalism and strife in Africa, Asia and Europe. The Indian Ocean littorals, underdeveloped with little financial or industrial stamina to withstand the dictates of the developed nations, have been particularly vulnerable to internal turmoil.

On their own, most smaller littorals in the region are too weak to influence policy matters. As part of an ocean community, they could be more effective in managing the region’s economy. Moreover, national development and national security are two sides of the same coin. It should therefore be considered by India, South Africa and Australia in the first instance, to forge closer maritime links. This will require that insecurities and old animosities are put aside to create an atmosphere in which an inspired economic future can be built.

The Indian Ocean is neither a homogenous nor a composite community. The historian Sardar Panikkar aptly described it as a "telephone directory rather than a historical entity". In such an environment, the sea and its sailors are a natural and readily available medium for taking the lead in uniting the ‘hearts and minds’ of similar maritime powers. This, in turn, will influence the texture of countries’ strategic, economic, cultural and industrial perceptions. Regional co-operation that encompasses contemporary maritime strategy will bring in its wake other co-operative programmes. It will encourage multilateral co-operation and enlarge the brotherhood of the seas. As the Norwegians say, "the land divides, but the sea unites". This will require the vision of a Nelson Mandela or a De Klerk with the conviction and courage to alter the course to a new destination.

THE DEFENCE BUDGET

To understand the seas and be able to use the oceans for national development implies investing in a navy that is cost effective. The expanding roles of navies in peacetime, particularly in developing countries, need no further elucidation. The economic development in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong are in part as a result of their utilisation of the oceans’ resources. It should therefore not be required of the South African Navy to continually justify the need to increase their share of the Defence Budget. The ratio of 2:3:5 for the Navy, Air Force and Army respectively, appears to be a reasonable division of the ‘defence cake’ and is similar to that of many developing democratic countries.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the following words of Professor Ken Booth6 apply:

Edited version of a paper presented at the annual IDP/SAIIA Maritime Conference, Cape Town, 9 August 1994.



Admiral Sir Julian Oswald, Roskill Memorial Lecture, Churchill College, Cambridge, 3 February 1993.



Vice Admiral Mihir K. Roy, South Asia after the Cold War, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1993, p. 239.



Robert McNamara, Lecture at India International Centre, Delhi, 17 November 1992.



An Agenda for Peace, United Nations, June 1992, pp. 110 and 112.



Ken Booth, The role of navies in peace time, Boulder, Colorado, 1993, p. 161.