Cautious not to give the slightest impression of any “alliance building” by India, Defence Minister A K Antony has pulled up the Navy for not giving details well in advance about the presence of USS Cole in the recently concluded Indo-UK naval exercises. Antony, sources said, was upset with the Navy for holding back such information till the last minute when clearances were needed.

The Indo-UK ‘Konkan’ exercises were held from April 21 to May 2 in which USS Cole and French stealth ship FS Surcouf participated as observers.

According to reliable sources, Navy had first taken the permission for a French and a Spanish ship to be observers from the British side in the exercise. Later, the Navy is said to have informed that USS Cole would participate and that the Spanish ship was withdrawing.

This was when matters came to a head. USS Cole’s presence coincided with the brief visit of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But with the Navy taking the plea that the ship had already set sail for India, no option was left with South Block but to give the clearance.

While the details of annual bilateral exercises are known, the uncertainty was with third country ships being embedded into the event as observers.

The entire episode prompted a strongly worded letter from the Ministry of External Affairs which alleged that the Navy was seeking clearances just a week or so before the foreign ship was to arrive in India, hence presenting a “fait accompli” not keeping in mind the foreign policy implications. This further escalated the situation.

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