Despite tension across the border in the past, the Somali pirates got a taste of Indo – China combination saw that both countries carried out a well co-ordinated operation to rescue a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden. It was indeed a good team work that saw the Somali pirates disintegrated and ran for safety. While Indian Navy deployed a helicopter that provided air cover and the same time the Chinese side sent in a team of 18 personnel to sanitise the merchant ship registered in the Pacific Island. The joint operation came at a time when the relationship between the two countries strained over a range of issues including the Dalai Lama’s visits to Arunachal Pradesh. In a show of international maritime cooperating against piracy, the boarding party from nearby Chinese Navy ship carried out operations to save the crew members. Thus, team work between India and China touched a new high and released the tension in the border after the joint operation.
Calicut Ramani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
