India seeks more regional cooperation to combat piracy
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India, seriously impacted by rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden, has asked Somalia to take the lead in combating the menace and ensure prompt prosecution of piracy suspects. Indian naval ship deployed in the Gulf of Aden had thwarted several piracy attempts and provided security escorts to merchant marine in these waters. "Naval operations against pirates cannot fully succeed if the suspects apprehended by navies are released without proper prosecution as such persons tend to return to piracy," Acting Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Mr Anupam Ray, said. Pointing out that bilateral agreements between countries for trials and incarcerations had not been very successful, he highlighted the need for more regional cooperation to tackle piracy. "The issue of imprisonment of convicted persons can be best addressed by building prison infrastructure in the region, ideally in Somalia," he said. "It is also important to ensure that sustained and predictable financing is available to host States to handle the financial burden of prosecuting and imprisoning convicts over long duration," he added. Mr Ray also pointed out that 11 per cent of seafarers engaged by international shipping companies are Indian nationals some of whom have been taken hostage by Somali pirates. UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, recommended seven "options" to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia by beefing up methods and facilities for prosecution and imprisonment of pirates. "The first option is to enhance ongoing efforts to assist regional States to prosecute and imprison those responsible for acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea," he said. The six other recommendations include locating a Somali court in a third State in the region, establishment of a regional tribunal, and setting up of a full international tribunal. "The Council has clearly emphasised the need to achieve and sustain substantive results in combating piracy," Mr Ban said, asking member-states to act on their political and financial commitments in order to establish these new judicial mechanisms and strengthen the existing ones. "We will need both to establish the mechanism and ensure that it has the capacity and resources to prosecute a large number of suspects, while ensuring due process," he added. Ban said that during the past seven months there have been 139 piracy-related incidents off Somalia's coast. Thirty ships have been hijacked. Seventeen ships and 450 seafarers currently are being held for ransom.
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