India, Japan and China entered into a Pact called SHADE

India, Japan and China entered into a pact to share data to achieve the most efficient use of Naval Forces present in the Indian Ocean Region. The initiative is known as the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). The initiative began functioning from 1 January 2012. China, India, and Japan also agreed to carry out more effective coordination by establishing a convoy coordination working group as part of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction Mechanism. 

China, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Yemen deployed ships and aircraft to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean region. They were working as independent forces in absence of shared information. Other issues included a lack of convoy coordination by countries outside the SHADE mechanism that led to inefficient use of ships and aircrafts deployed for the purpose. This was improved with expanded interaction through the SHADE mechanism and improved information sharing.