CREATING A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR MARITIME SECURITY COOPERATION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
This thesis assesses India’s maritime strategy and critically examines its efficacy and sustainability including India’s ambitions to be the “net security provider” for the region.” It seeks to answer the question, whether or not the extant maritime strategy would help India maintain its balance of power with respect to China, and recommends complementary actions and alternate strategic options for India to fulfill its goals in the Indian Ocean. The first part of the thesis examines the entire range of strategic maritime threats and challenges posed to India by the evolving Indian Ocean security environment of the twenty-first century. These include the non-traditional threats such as piracy, maritime terrorism and illegal fishing as well as traditional threats posed by India’s hostile neighbours, China and Pakistan. Subsequently, it looks at how India’s foreign policy has shaped its maritime doctrine and strategy, and examines the stated objectives of India’s maritime strategy that...
INDIA’S MARITIME SECURITY STRATEGY IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION
NatStrat, 2024
India's maritime security strategy in the IOR operates under the vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and engages nations and their maritime forces under cooperative mechanisms that stem from existing bilateral and multilateral organisations and understandings. The central focus of these engagements, which are based on inclusivity, is on non-traditional threats that threaten the stability, security and peace of the region. Further, central to these structures and frameworks, is a common thread that seeks to address threats, challenges and risks arising from the maritime domain while maximising on the cooperative opportunities that arise as part of the addressal mechanism.
Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean: Convergence Plus Cooperation Equals Resonance
The post-Cold War period has witnessed significant maritime developments. The intensification of trade-linked development and entering into force of Laws of the Seas in 1994 led to state interests being increasingly identified with the seas in terms of freedom of navigation and ocean resources, thus making maritime issues a major subset of national security. Events leading to 9/11 saw the addition of an amorphous dimension to existing threats, thus expanding the ambit of maritime security. While the scope of this paper is restricted to the northern Indian Ocean, globally, the Indian Ocean holds the maximum stakes in terms of vital resources and sea-lines; yet coincidentally, is also the most imperilled, especially in terms of asymmetric threats. India, an emerging power in the region, can assume the responsibility to address these threats through a proactive approach and convergence of interests with regional maritime players.
Maritime Security Interests: India in the Western Indian Ocean
Athena (ISSN: 2454-1605), 2021
The Western Indian Ocean is a maritime gateway to Europe and North America from Asia. Consisting of the African littoral states, the region has an abundance of rare-earth materials and energy resources. The vital chokepoints and SLOCs in the region make it an important Exclusive Economic Zone. India's presence in the region can be traced to the medieval period when its traders used these sea routes for trade with the Arabs and Persia. But this maritime contact gradually eroded under the British Empire. Post-independence, India's maritime policy remained largely inward and continental. It was after the change of the century that India realized the importance of the maritime domain in its strategic doctrine. The growing Chinese presence, energy security, and the protection of the SLOCs in the Indian Ocean Region contributed to this policy reorientation. Since the last decade, India has attempted to enhance cooperation with the Western Indian Ocean littorals, situated either near or at the chokepoints. India has been actively involved in the region through HADR, SAR, and anti-piracy operations. The African Ocean Rim littorals also regard India as a dependable security partner. In some cases, India has established itself as a security guarantor, as is arguably the case with Mauritius and the Maldives. There is also the possibility of broader cooperation with like-minded partners like France and Japan to counter China in the region. In this context, the paper looks into India's active participation in the region, under its broader Indian Ocean policy, to fulfill its aspiration of emerging as a great power.
Indias Emerging Concept of Maritime Security
There is a new conception of India's security taking shape in the Asian maritime domain. India's new evocation of security creates a seamless expanse of its interests from continental homeland transcending the coastal areas and extending to the maritime expanse of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This new approach of India seeks to secure its interests through an effective mix of soft and hard power built on a conception of security outreach that extends to the high seas. As the largest regional navy in South Asia with ever enlarging pan-Asian interests, India's attempt to find the right balance between adopting protective and assertive policies in the Asian maritime domain is gradually emerging as its fundamental strategic dilemma. India's approach to coastal security, territorial waters and even the exclusive economic zone signals a recalibration that repositions security, trade, connectivity and most of all counter-strategies to regain influence in the region.
Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean: An Indian Perspective
For a maritime nation like India, its conception of maritime security of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and, specifically, its approach to maritime security has a long historical legacy. The modern Indian Navy has its origins in the colonial period. But it is the post-colonial period spanning independence and then the imperatives of the Cold War, and later to the interim phase in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union to the present day strategic partnerships-all of which have contributed to moulding the Indian perspective of maritime security. This article looks at how India's conception of maritime security in the IOR has been affected by these changes and challenges.