Has India changed sea-policing rules?

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: In the short period since the INS Tabar took up its anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden on November 2, it has thrice foiled the Somali pirates, most recently by dramatically sinking one of their “mother vessels”. This pro-active performance is in sharp contrast to the broader international community’s impotent hand wringing over confused rules of engagement. Putting this position in a nutshell, a US navy think tank’s representative Kim Hall said this week, “Naval forces can do little more than maintain the current deter and disrupt posture.” INS Tabar has clearly shown up this passivism.

Still, even after the UN Security Council passed a resolution allowing different states to use “all necessary means” in Somalia’s waters, the Law of the Sea Convention limits daring deeds. It mandates that a warship cannot open fire against a suspected pirate ship without first sending an officer-led party to inspect it “with all due consideration”. Then, what’s to be done with captured pirates? The British navy was warned last year not to detain pirates for fear of “human rights violations” or asylum claims, and all that the French could do with the pirates they captured in October was to turn them over to the ineffective Somali government.