Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on December 22 inaugurated the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC), which aims to collaborate with partner countries and multinational agencies to develop maritime awareness and share information, especially on commercial cargo vessels.

The objective of having an IFC-Indian Ocean Region is more for partners to work towards keeping the global commons safe, she said.

The Indian Ocean Region is vital to world trade and economic prosperity of many countries as more than 75 per cent of the world’s maritime trade and 50 per cent of global oil consumption passes through it.

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said India aims to work closely with the multinational bodies and other IFC through this new centre.

Additionally, the IFC-Indian Ocean Region would work towards capability-building in the region, coordination of incident response and disaster relief, and in time, also share submarine safety information, he said.

He listed maritime piracy and terrorism as the two major ways in which non-state actors threaten to jeopardise the security of the maritime domain with a direct influence on land affairs. “Addressing these myriad challenges requires a very high level of maritime domain awareness and an appropriate mechanism to predict, prevent and respond to contingencies,” he said.

However, the scale, scope and multinational nature of maritime activities make it difficult for countries to address these challenges individually, he said. “The only way to optimally harness our individual strength is through collaborative and cooperative efforts, of which the IFC-IOR is a shining example.”

The information exchange at the IFC-IOR would be initially undertaken by virtual means, using telephone calls, fax, emails and video-conferencing over the Internet.

Subsequently, to enable better interaction, quicker analysis of information and provide timely inputs, the IFC-IOR would host liaison officers from partner countries.

Some 10 countries have shown interest to be part of the project. Envoys of several countries, including the US, Japan, Australia, Thailand, and defence attaches were present at the event. Meanwhile, India and France are working to launch a constellation of maritime surveillance for the Indian Ocean Region.