“While to other countries, the Indian Ocean is only one of the oceanic areas, to India it is the vital sea. Her future is dependent on the freedom of its waters.”
[su_heading size=”20″ margin=”0″]Maritime Challenges for India[/su_heading]
► China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean is a major challenge for India. Recently Chinese naval submarines docked in Colombo . From developing maritime infrastructure in Gwadar, Hambantota and Chittagong in South Asia, to building and revitalizing port facilities in Mombasa, Dar-e-Salam and Bagamoyo on the East Coast of Africa, China seems to be creating a Chinese trade-corridor in the Indian Ocean. The Maritime Silk Route is indicative of that. The all weather Sino-Pakistan alliance, with its strong anti-Indian slant complicates our security problems further.China’s expanding naval footprint in the Indian Ocean would come into conflict with India’s sphere of strategic influence, triggering a chain of events that could eventually lead to a larger strategic confrontation. How China has been emerging as a strong influence in South Asia has been discussed at length in our previous article.
► India is perturbed as the sea is constantly under threat due to rampant piracy, maritime terrorism, and inter-state tensions. Open waters, crowded sea lanes, failed states have created a conducive environment for piracy. Fairchem Bogey , an Indian oil tanker was attacked near the port on 2011. Challenges such as the size of the surveillance area and reaction time have hindered navies from capturing pirates. Inadequate legal mechanisms for the trial of pirates has been an issue on land.
► The growing importance of maritime resources , sea-lane safety, concentration of economic boom zones along the coasts, has made maritime security more critical than ever. Deep seabed mining has emerged as a major new strategic issue. From seeking to tap sulphide deposits — containing valuable metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt and zinc — to phosphorus nodule mining for phosphor-based fertilizers used in food production, the inter-state competition over seabed-mineral wealth has increased dramatically. Competition over seabed minerals is intensifying in the Indian Ocean. China has secured an international deep-seabed block in southwestern Indian Ocean from the International Seabed Authority to explore for polymetallic sulphides.
► India shares maritime border with more countries than she does on land borders – Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Pakistan – Sir Creek . Where borders are delimited there also frequent instances of illegal fishing, arrest of fishermen, arms-smuggling, terrorist infiltration, human-smuggling and drug-trafficking takes place. All of these pose continuous threats to national security.
► Environmental problems such as sea level rise, desertification, and the submergence of islands have contributed to the environmentally-driven migration of millions and created a new set of migrants “environmental refugees.” With a rise in environmental refugees, concomitant problems such as health issues, competition for scarce resources, social and ethnic tensions will surface.This is important while examining the strategic environment of the Indian Ocean.
► US naval retrenchment from the region means a reduced military capability to confront larger threats to peace and security in West Asia. Precisely this is why many other states are rushing to fill in the vacuum created by the impending USA withdrawal. The UK’s announcement of reviving its maritime presence in Bahrain needs to be seen in this light. While UK’s decision to reopen its naval base in Manama, Bahrain, is a cause for worry mainly because it implies further militarisation of the Indian Ocean Region. And Ajit Doval has articulated that the Indian Ocean Region should remain a zone of peace.
► After the reprehensible 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, for which the terrorists used the sea route for ingress, Indian Navy has been designated as the overall co‐ordinator for maritime security, which includes coastal security. The Mumbai attacks showed us yet again the vulnerability of our 7,517 km long coastline.
[su_heading size=”20″ margin=”0″]What should be India’s strategy? [/su_heading]
► India should bolster her naval strength and expand maritime partnerships with other countries through bilateral, trilateral and multilateral means. Naval modernisation, expansion of civilian maritime infrastructure, development of island territories, naval assistance to other countries should be embarked upon. Joint exercises of navies like Malabar 2014 advance professional interaction and understanding between our sailors and help us to achieve better synergy to tackle common maritime challenges. Power projection is still a pejorative phrase in New Delhi. A blue water navy capable of power projection is a flexible strategic tool, but it requires diplomatic investment in forward bases and friendly ports in addition to the financial and human investment.
► The Coast Guard suffers from capacity constraints due to inadequate procurement and infrastructure. It is incumbent upon the respective state governments to recognize the exigency of sea-borne threats and take effective steps to augment the capabilities of marine police, which is one of the first respondents during crises.
► India should maintain congenial political relations with its maritime neighbours like Sri Lanka and Maldives. They are allying with China to secure their interests, because India has been callous towards them in the past. India also needs stronger partnerships with other island states, like Seychelles and Mauritius, which are being wooed by China with a renewed vigour. Recent initiatives to provide security assistance to India’s maritime neighbours – such as the Seychelles, Mauritius and contributing towards multinational anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden are steps in the right direction.
► India needs to deepen its military security cooperation in the Indian Ocean with USA, France, Australia and initiate a maritime security dialogue with China. India should engage more through multilateral initiatives such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium to convey her maritime strategy.
► The threats to navigation and maritime freedoms, including in critical straits and exclusive economic zones can be countered through adherence to international laws by all parties as well as through monitoring, regulation and enforcement.
► Rising competition for seabed minerals reveals the need for creating a regulatory regime, developing safe and effective ocean-development technologies, finding ways to share benefits of the common heritage, and ensuring environmental protection. It should be treated as a part of global commons.
The growing influence of India and her geo‐strategic significance as a stabilising power in the Indian Ocean is acknowledged by the world. India needs to be adroitly prepared to shoulder the attendant regional responsibilities.
🙂
Leave a Reply