Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Naval Liaisons at RMFC and EMASOH)

Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Naval Liaisons at RMFC and EMASOH

After joining the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as Observer in March, India is looking to post Navy Liaison Officers at the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC) in Madagascar and also at the European maritime surveillance initiative in the Strait of Hormuz for improved Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
The Navy Liaison Officers is expected to be posted at EMASOH by July and at the RMIFC by September or October. India has an LO at the IFC in Singapore for over four years now.

The RMFIC functions under the aegis of the IOC of which India became an Observer in March 2020 along with Japan and the United Nations.
On April 29th, 2018, at the Ministerial Conference on Maritime Safety and Security held in Mauritius, five States from the Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian OceanRegion (ESA-IO),namely Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius, Union of Comoros and Seychelles, signed the Regional Agreement for the Setting up of a Regional Maritime Information Exchange and Sharing Mechanismin the Western Indian Ocean.
The missions of the RMIFC is to : ( Collect, fuse and analyze maritime information ; ( Establish a regional Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA) and maintain a Recognized Maritime Picture (RMP) ; ( Interact with the Regional Center of Operations Co-ordination (RCOC) ; ( Produce reports and studies related to regional maritime safety and security and the marine domain in general.
In this general area of interest, RMIFC collects and processes the following 12 themes which serve as the basis for information management: Violent acts at sea; Unreported and unregulated illegal fishing; Maritime Incidents; Traffic and contraband by sea; Maritime natural event / AHSC; Irregular migration and human trafficking by sea; Proliferation of Arms and Security Initiative (PSI); Maritime Critical Infrastructure; Pleasure / maritime tourism; Marine environment; Maritime cybercrime and Others.

The European Maritime Awareness in the Strait of Hormuz(EMASOH) headquarters is composed of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and French officers and based at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi.
The aim is “to monitor maritime activity and guarantee freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.”
On February 5, 2020the initiative was declared operational by the French Ministry of Armed Forces.

The IFC-IOR has been established at Gurugram (India) in December 2018, and is collocated with Information Management and Analysis Centre which is jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.
The information Exchange at the IFC-IOR is initially undertaken by virtual means, using telephone calls, faxes, emails and video conferencing over internet. Subsequently, to enable better interconnection, quicker analysis of information and provide timely inputs, the IFC-IOR would host LO from partner countries.
Additionally, towards enhancing capability building, the IFC-IOR also undertake conduct of exercises and training capsules in maritime information collection and sharing. The setting up of IFC-IOR underscores the governmental approach and effort in line with the vision of Security and Growth of All in the Region (SAGAR).
France became the first country to deploy a LO at the IFC-IOR followed by the US and several other countries including Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom have announced their intention to post LOs.

IFC-IOR is coordinating with similar centres across the globe. These include Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre (VRMTC), Maritime Security Centre- Horn of Africa(MSCHOA), Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP), Information Fusion CentreSingapore (IFC-SG), and International Maritime Bureau - Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC).
The Indian Ocean Commission is an intergovernmental organization that links African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles.There are also seven observers: China, India, Japan, the Sovereign Order of Malta,the European Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the United Nations.