Context: India is planning to post Naval Liaison Officers (LOs) at the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and the European Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz (EMASOH) in Abu Dhabi for improved Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
Key Points

• The move aims to improve linkages of the Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram with other IFCs and become the repository for all maritime data in the IOR.
• India is working closely with France, who is a pre-eminent member of IOC, to post a Naval LO at the RMIFC in Madagascar.
• The RMFIC functions under the aegis of the IOC and is designed to deepen maritime domain awareness by monitoring maritime activities and promoting information sharing and exchange.
• The Navy LO is expected to be posted at EMASOH by July and at the RMIFC by September or October 2020.
• India has a LO at the IFC in Singapore for over four years now.

Significance of IOC

• For India, the importance of joining this organization lies in several things.
• First, India will get an official foothold in a premier regional institution in the western Indian Ocean, boosting engagement with islands in this part of the Indian Ocean.
• These island nations are increasingly important for India’s strategic outreach as part of its Indo-Pacific policy.
• This move would enhance ties with France which is the strong global power in the western Indian Ocean.
• It lends depth to India’s SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region) policy unveiled by PM Modi in 2015.
• The move, India hopes, would lead to greater security cooperation with countries in East Africa.

About European Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz

• France started EMASOH with the aim to monitor maritime activity and guarantee freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
• It is based at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
• It was declared operational by the French Ministry of Armed Forces in February 2020.

About Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region

• The Indian Navy set up the IFC-IOR in December 2018 within the premises of the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram to track maritime movements in the region.
• IMAC is located in Gurugram and is the main centre of the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance and monitoring.
• IMAC is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd and functions under the National Security Adviser (NSA).
• IFC is the single point centre linking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500 km coastline.
• France became the first country to deploy a LO at the IFC-IOR followed by the USA and several other countries including Australia, Japan and the UK have announced their intention to post LOs.

About Indian Ocean Commission(IOC)

• The IOC is an intergovernmental organization that was created in 1982 at Port Louis, Mauritius and institutionalized in 1984 by the Victoria Agreement in Seychelles.
• The IOC is composed of five African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles.
• These five islands share geographic proximity, historical and demographic relationships, natural resources and common development issues.
• The Commission has five observers — India, China, European Union (EU), Malta and International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).
• OIF is a 54 french speaking nations collective.

Objectives of IOC

• IOC’s principal mission is to strengthen the ties of friendship between the countries and to be a platform of solidarity for the entire population of the African Indian Ocean region.
• IOC’s mission also includes development, through projects related to sustainability for the region, aimed at protecting the region, improving the living conditions of the populations and preserving the various natural resources that the countries depend on.
• Being an organisation regrouping only island states, the IOC has usually championed the cause of small island states in regional and international fora.

India and IOC

• India was accepted as an observer getting a seat at the table of the organization that handles maritime governance in the western Indian Ocean.
• India’s entry is a consequence of its deepening strategic partnership with France as well as its expanding ties with the Vanilla Islands.
• The IOC has four observers — China, EU, Malta and International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

Engagement with the Western Indian Ocean

• It will facilitate collective engagement with the islands in the Western Indian Ocean that are becoming strategically significant.
• Given China’s growing presence in the region, India will be able to increase its naval presence and gain support for its maritime projects across the Indo-Pacific.
• The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is also a strategic location of the Indian Ocean linking the Southeastern coast of Africa to the wider Indian Ocean and beyond.

Opportunity in the Mozambique Channel

• The IOC islands are situated around one of the key chokepoints in the Indian Ocean- the Mozambique Channel.
• The Mozambique Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique.
• The Mozambique Channel lost its significance post the opening of the Suez Canal, but the recent hostilities near the Strait of Hormuz brought the channel back into focus as the original route for bigger commercial vessels (especially for oil tankers).
• Potential of natural gas reserves in the MozambiqueChannel further increases the significance of the region.

Cooperation with France

• It will also help to boost cooperation with France that has a strong presence in the western Indian ocean.

SAGAR Policy

• It will help to extend India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) policy in the region.
• SAGAR is an articulation of India’s vision for the Indian Ocean which aims for enhancement of capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories & interests; deepening economic and security cooperation in the littoral; action to deal with natural disasters and maritime threats like piracy, terrorism.

How Indian can help IOC? 

• Support sub-regional efforts such as those of the IOC. 
• Building capacity of IOC countries to patrol their EEZs 
• Linking of India’s information fusion centres with others in the region 
• Providing Technical expertise in maritime monitoring & surveillance 
• Providing India’s satellite imagery services to RMIFC 

About RMIFC

• The Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC), based in Madagascar, is designed to deepen maritime domain awareness by monitoring maritime activities and promoting information sharing and exchange.
• The Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC), based in Seychelles, will eventually facilitate joint or jointly coordinated interventions at sea based on information gathered through the RMIFC.
• These centres are a response to the limitations that the states in the region face in policing and patrolling their often-enormous Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).