On Maritime Security Challenges – The challenge of maritime security in the Global South

Source: The post on maritime security challenges has been created on the article “The challenge of maritime security in the Global South” published in “The Hindu” on 29th November 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Internal Security – Security challenges and their management.
GS Paper 2 International Relations – India and its neighborhood.

News: This article discusses the emerging challenges in the maritime domain and the issues associated with dealing with them.

What are the new threats emerging in the maritime domain?

1) Asymmetrical war tactics: This includes the following:
a. Use of Land-based missiles.
b. Use of Combat drones.
c. Use of grey-zone warfare (Grey-zone warfare is a set of activities that fall between peace and war).

2) Unconventional security threats: This includes:
a. Illegal fishing (and the use of unsustainable fishing methods such as bottom trawling).
b. Natural disasters and the impact of climate change.
c. Marine pollution.
d. Human and drug trafficking.

What are the challenges in dealing with these issues?

Requires much more than just military action: States must instead be prepared to commit capital, resources, and specialist personnel over prolonged periods to meet security needs.

Lack of precedent: There is no functioning template or a previous example to fight non-traditional threats at sea.

Lack of representation of the vulnerable states: Rising sea levels, marine pollution, climate change, and natural disasters have had a disproportionate impact on less developed states. Voices from these littoral states in Asia, Africa, and the Southern Pacific are ignored by the developed countries.

Linkages of these issues across multiple jurisdictions: The cross-jurisdictional linkages (spread across various sovereign countries) between these diverse areas make them challenging to manage.

Disparity in maritime capabilities: Littoral states in Asia and Africa have unequal law-enforcement capabilities required to jointly combat maritime threats.

Lack of cooperation: Many of these countries have varying security priorities and are not always willing to leverage partner capabilities to combat threats such as piracy, armed robbery, and maritime terrorism. Priority is given to political and strategic autonomy over cooperation.

Lack of consensus: Implementing a collaborative strategy is challenging since it requires maritime agencies to improve interoperability, share intelligence, and agree on a regional rules-based order. There is a lack of consensus in the Global South regarding this.

Lack of sound policies: Policies such as lenient regulations; lax implementation of the law; and subsidies that incentivise smaller fishermen to shift to motorised trawling contribute to the rise of unconventional threats.

What is India’s approach in this regard?

1) India’s Maritime Vision 2030: It sets out a 10-year blueprint for the maritime sector, envisaging the development of ports, shipping, and inland waterways as a way of generating growth and livelihoods.

2) India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative: It rests on seven pillars including maritime ecology, marine resources, capacity building, disaster risk reduction, and maritime connectivity. It acknowledges that countries need collective solutions to their common problems, especially since they remain economically interdependent.

What should be done?

States need to undertake a developmental approach to maritime security. To this extent, States must adopt an integrated form of maritime security operations and overhaul regulatory frameworks to align domestic regulation with international law.

Question for practice:

New challenges in the maritime security domain require a new security outlook. Discuss the various emerging challenges and the issues in combating them.