NEW DELHI, February 6:  India has made it clear that it does not want to be either the regional cop or "head master" in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

 Speaking to reporters on Friday at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the venue of the on-going Exercise Milan 2010, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said the largest on-going naval war game is not aimed at creating a security bloc against China.

 The Sri Lankan Navy and navies from 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region are taking part in Exercise Milan 2010, which concludes on Monday.

 He said Milan is aimed at humanitarian relief and disaster management. There is no question of the exercise being seen as a security threat by any nation. "Milan is not aimed at the security aspects. Its theme is coming together in areas where we can jointly tackle natural and man-made disasters," he explained.

 Asked how India visualizes its role in the IOR following the Pentagon’s latest assessment that the Indian Navy is acquiring capabilities and can possibly assume a greater security role in the area, Admiral Verma said: "We are talking about coming together on a constructive level, and the Indian Navy is not coming in as a head master."

 When asked if the multilateral exercise can raise Beijing’s suspicion because some of the countries taking part in Milan 2010 have maritime disputes with China, he said: "Our coming together is not as a security bloc, but to cooperate to tackle disasters, both natural and man-made."

 Naval ships of Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, as well as representatives from navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand  are taking part in Milan this year.

 Three of the participating countries---the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia--- and China have overlapping sovereignty claims to Spratly islands in the South China Sea. They are competing with China to grab their share of oil and natural gas reserves in the Spratly region.

 Admiral Verma said China has nothing to be suspicious about Milan, a  biennial gathering of navies of the Indian Ocean region that the Indian Navy has been hosting since 1995 for building friendship and mutual understanding amongst participating navies.

 However, Vice Admiral DK Joshi, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), said: "China would be monitoring what’s happening here. But Milan is a non-military forum. It’s more of a socio-cultural engagement." 

China tends to be suspicious of naval alliances in the Indian Ocean, particularly those involving India, because the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) wants to wield more influence. 

For instance, in September 2007, China had lodged a strong protest against the 13th Indo-US Malabar war games in the Bay of Bengal after they were expanded to include the Australian, Japanese and Singapore navies. China had accused India, US, Japan and Australia---all democracies---of ganging up against a communist country.