Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) With pirate attacks on merchant ships in the Indian Ocean increasing, India Monday said it would be difficult to root out the menace without the United Nations’s effort.

“Unless a united and a combined effort under the United Nations takes place, I do not think it will be easy to defeat this threat of piracy,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters here.

He was responding to questions on the increased piracy attacks and 39 Indians being held hostage by Somali pirates, after the ships they were on board were seized by them.

“Anti-piracy operation is still not showing result, even though navies of almost all the important countries in the world — the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France…everybody, including India — are there (in Gulf of Aden),” Antony said on the threat from Somali pirates.

“When the international forces are pushing them in the Gulf of Aden, they are pushing too far. That is why, recently, in the last one year, there was more than a dozen incidents of (piracy) attempts near our shores in the Lakshadweep area,” he said.

That was the reason, the Indian navy and coast guard had strengthened their surveillance and increased deployment in the Arabian Sea, he said.

“They (navy and coast guard) are taking care of this (menace). They have taken it as a priority to protect our vast 7,500-km-long coastline. The Indian Navy is also doing their part in other areas of the Indian Ocean (against piracy),” he added.

Antony also touched upon the governance issues in Somali, which, he said, contributed to the problem of piracy and that country should find a solution on its own too.

India had told the United Nations earlier this year that it would be ready to work under its flag if an international naval force was formed to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

India has in the last six months nabbed over 120 pirates in the Arabian Sea and jailed them in Mumbai. Somali pirates are holding 39 Indians, who were part of the crew of cargo vessels that have been hijacked, in captivity at present to pursue their demand for a ransom to free them.