South Asia Security Monitor: No. 285

INDIA JOINS NUCLEAR SUB CLUB
After a prolonged wait, the Indian Navy on April 4 took delivery of a Russian nuclear-powered Akula II class submarine at the east coast port of Visakhapatnam, home of India’s Eastern Naval Command. The Nerpa, rechristened the INS Chakra, was delivered to India on a ten-year lease from Russia, and becomes the only nuclear-powered submarine in the Indian fleet, making India the 6th country in the world to operate a nuclear submarine after the U.S., France, Britain, China, and Russia. The $650 - $900 million agreement for the Nerpa was signed in 2004, after which Russia revitalized the mothballed submarine. The 8,000-ton Chakra, three times bigger than India’s Kilo-class subs, carries a crew of 73 and can remain submerged for 100 days. The sub was designed to enter service in India in 2009 but an accidental gas charge in 2008 during sea trials that killed twenty Russian sailors delayed delivery until 2012.

This is not the first time India has operated a (Russian) nuclear sub: in January 1988 India leased and operated a Charlie-class Russian nuclear submarine until December 1990. Unlike the current agreement that submarine, also named the Chakra, was restricted to training uses. Though nuclear-powered, the new INS Chakra does not carry nuclear warheads. For India to complete its nuclear “triad,” it will have to wait for the induction of its first indigenous nuclear submarine, the Arihant, thought to be based off the original Chakra leased in 1988. The 6,000-ton Arihant, which is undergoing sea trials this year and is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2014, will carry nuclear-tipped K-16 Sagarika ballistic missiles. (UPI April 2, 2012; Economic Times April 4, 2012)

PAK PREZ TO VISIT INDIA
In a further sign of easing tensions across the Line of Control, Pakistani president Asif Zardari has announced he will make a pilgrimage to a sufi shrine inside India April 8, the first trip to India by a sitting Pakistani president since 2005. Zardari will visit the shrine of Khwaja Chishti after joining Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for lunch at the prime minister’s residence. The high-level exchange follows a four-day trip to Pakistan in February by Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, which included representatives of more than 100 Indian businesses. Zardari will be accompanied by a 40-member delegation including Interior Minister Rehman Malik. Indo-Pak ties have steadily improved over the last two years, after a sustained chill following the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, whose perpetrators hailed from Pakistan. Analysts on both sides praised the diplomatic outreach effort by Zardari, but cautioned the test of its utility lies in whether the meeting produces tangible deliverables. (IANS April 6, 2012)

US WELCOMES BURMESE OFFICIALS AFTER ELECTIONS
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has invited the Burmese Foreign Minister to Washington, in yet another sign of the profound and rapid transformation of U.S.-Burmese ties since the country’s military junta took an unexpected turn towards democracy last year. On April 1 the long-isolated Southeast Asian nation held landmark elections that saw the party of longtime democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy gain 43 seats in the Burmese parliament. Washington and democratic countries throughout Asia have praised the Burmese government’s recent strides toward economic and political openness and have promised a gradual lifting of suffocating sanctions that have been in place for over a decade. “Now we are going to begin the process of using our travel sanctions to facilitate travel to the US, specifically for select reform-minded authorities who are constructively engaged with the United States,” a senior administration official told The Irrawaddy. “We think easing these restrictions in a targeted manner will promote much greater dialogue, more confidence, and hopefully will allow us to gain greater confidence on some of our core concerns.” (The Irrawaddy April 6, 2012)

CHINA, INDIA SPAR OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA DRILLING
New Delhi and Beijing continue to spar over India’s right to drill for oil and gas in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) -- an area extending 200 nautical miles from a county’s coast in which the country enjoys exclusive economic rights. Portions of Vietnam’s EEZ are claimed by China and the two countries have territorial disputes in the nearby Spratly and Paracel islands. Beijing has reacted negatively to Indian energy projects already underway off Vietnam’s coast, and is voicing concerns about future Indian drilling projects. “The area is a disputed one. So we do not think that it would be good for India” to explore for oil there, said a Chinese foreign ministry official in late March. The official brushed aside comparisons to China’s ongoing development projects in Pakistan administered Kashmir – a contested territory claimed by India.

The head of a state-affiliated think tank, the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, warned that “40 percent” of two blocks India has been granted drilling rights in were “disputed” and that the Indian energy company, ONGC, faced “political and economic risks” by working there. According to Mr. Wu Shicun, “the involvement of external multinational oil corporations will make the situation even more complicated and poses even more obstacles.” India’s External Affairs Minister, SM Krishna, fired back on April 6 with New Delhi’s strongest statement to date, arguing “India maintains that South China Sea is the property of the world. I think those trade ways must be free from any national interference.” (DNA April 6, 2012; Livemint.com March 25, 2012)