India today pitched for a collective strategy against the menace of piracy at seas. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said Piracy has become a global scourge and other countries, including China and the US, would have to be involved in the battle against it.

Speaking to reporters in Bangaluru ahead of the Council of Ministers meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim – Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) tomorrow, he said the nature of Trade Sea routes are such that piracy cannot be fought by a single country. India has formally taken over from Yemen the chair of IOR-ARC for a period of two years.

The bilateral trade between India and the rest of the IOR-ARC member countries is USD 280 billion annually. Krishna said the Indian Ocean has assumed critical role from the geo-political point of view. He said political networking relationship among the 18-member grouping would be strengthened.