Could India and Pakistan go to war over the Sir Creek? Unlikely as there has been no exchange of fire or any clash in all these years. But Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent comments warning about Pakistan’s military infrastructure upgrades on its side of the creek, suggests something else.
Commodore Abhay Singh, a retired naval officer currently with the Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis in Delhi, told The Gist in an interview that “A major military facility is coming up towards the Keti Bandar (a minor seaport in Sindh 120 km from Sir Creek) … also in the area called Harami Nala on the Pakistan side, 50 square miles has been cleared by the government for a Chinese company.”
He said there is no clarity on what the Chinese company is doing in this area but clearly, the authorities on the Indian side are concerned.
What is the importance of Sir Creek? Apart from being rich in fish, it plays a key role in the maritime boundary demarcation and potentially has implications for the ownership of 10,000 nautical miles of the Arabian Sea.
The dispute over Sir Creek fundamentally is about where the boundary line in the creek runs. Is it in the middle as India says it is? Pakistan rejects it saying the entire creek belongs to it.
Negotiations have been held between the two sides since 1992 and in 2005 there was a meeting to decide on the hydrographic issues since no common data was available. A breakthrough of some kind happened in 2007 when the Indian Coast Guard and the Pakistani Maritime Security Agency jointly carried out a hydrographic survey.
Since then matters have remained in limbo and the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai put everything into a freeze. The only time temperatures go up is when fishermen get caught on the wrong side of the international maritime boundary.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Commodore Abhay Singh of the Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
