Not just on the land, the Indian armed forces continue to level up their game in the air and in the sea too. Taking a step in this direction, the Indian Navy on Thursday (August 7) inaugurated its Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram. The development is a big step towards strengthening maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.
What makes the Indian Ocean Region important is the fact that it is a key part of the global trade and energy, serving as an important route. To address this need to promote collaboration for maritime safety and security, the IFC-IOR, hosted by the Indian Navy, was established by the Government of India in December 2018.
The Navy has now opened the newly constructed IFC-IOR, bearing state-of-the-art infrastructure. The facility was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS). With this, he also launched the IFC-IOR Software ‘MANTRA’.
What is the objective and advantage of new facility?
“The augmented infrastructure significantly boosts the Centre’s ability to accommodate additional International Liaison Officers from Friendly Foreign Countries and multinational constructs,” the Indian Navy said in a statement. MANTRA is an indigenously developed software which will strengthen Maritime Domain Awareness by providing robust monitoring of commercial shipping activities throughout the region.
In addition to the IFC-IOR infra facility, the launch of MANTRA (Maritime Analytics Tool for Regional Awareness) is an important development. MANTRA is a sophisticated software system made to strengthen maritime domain awareness through comprehensive monitoring of commercial shipping activities.
What are the challenges in the Indian Ocean Region?
Facilitating a notable portion of the global trade and energy flow, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is susceptible to several challenges like piracy and armed robbery, human and contraband trafficking, Irregular Human Migration, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, gun running, poaching and maritime terrorism etc.
The unfettered use of this ‘global commons’ for human prosperity cannot be achieved without addressing maritime security challenges. This is why India came up with Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region which works at ensuring maritime security.