Security Challenges Along The Indian Ocean Littoral

Security Challenges Along The Indian Ocean Littoral: Indian & Us Perspectives By C Uday Bhaskar, Kamlesh K Agnihotri Book Description The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is gaining strategic importance on the global maritime map. Besides connecting several important countries and being home to a very large proportion of the world's population, almost forty per cent of global seaborne trade and seventy per cent of hydro-carbon products transit this Ocean. The vastness of the IOR poses several security challenges and it is also widely accepted that a comprehensive focus on the spectrum of challenges is lacking. These include the problem of piracy, the possibility of renewed terrorism at and from the sea and the pervasive smuggling of people, narcotics and arms. This increased activity and volatility has forced India to look beyond the subcontinent to the larger periphery of the IOR. The United States is also deeply involved in its own security and stability operations along an arc - from the Red Sea to Pakistan. Speculation about China's future intentions in the Indian Ocean continues to grow since Beijing is deeply concerned about the potential disruption of its energy supply lines from the Middle East and Africa. This book contains a comprehensive overview of relevant and instructive perspectives of Indian and US security experts. It seeks to identify the key maritime security issues and explores the potential contribution which the Indian and US Navy can make in meeting these challenges. The avenues for greater cooperation between the two navies, to serve as a catalyst for wider cooperation along the Indian Ocean littoral have also been suggested. About The Author C Uday Bhaskar is the Director of the National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi. A widely acknowledged security analyst, he is Contributing Editor of the South Asia Monitor and a regular columnist with Reuters. He was appointed Member Secretary of the Government of India Task Force on Global Strategic Developments, the report of which was submitted to the Prime Minister of India. Cmde (Retd.) Bhaskar served in the Indian Navy for 37 years. He was the Deputy Director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) from1996 till 2004, which he later headed till 2005. A prolific writer, Cmde. Bhaskar has edited several books on nuclear and international security issues. He is a regular contributor to several Indian and global journals. He also lectures at military colleges, including the Indian National Defence College. Kamlesh K Agnihotri is a Research Fellow at the China cell of National Maritime Foundation (NMF). He has worked in the China Desk at the Indian Army Headquarters, where he gained extensive insight on China, its armed forces and the complex nature of India-China relations. Commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1986, Cdr. Agnihotri is a gunnery and missile specialist. He has several years of experience in various fleet ships and has commanded a ship in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry expert, he holds a Masters degree in Business Management. Cdr. Agnihotri has written several articles in the NMF Journal Maritime Affairs and commentaries in the NMF website. He has presented papers on subjects connected with China, in India and abroad. In addition to his research work, he is also learning the Chinese language.

India's rise as a global power in the 21st century will be backed with a strong blue economy. The high volumetric trade activities through its coastal region, mainly due to its geostrategic location and efficient links with the vast potential market in the hinterland and other landlocked states, provides it unmatched leverage. Among such promising enterprising, attracting global investments and trade, the non-conventional security threats within the Indian Ocean region and India's ports and coast cannot be ignored. Therefore, to address these challenges, the law at the seas formulated by various global organisations and other national and international regulatory mechanisms become essential for all those directly or indirectly involved in India's maritime security. Over the years, many state coastal security agencies have evolved with specific potential and restrictions, which creates a certain conditionality of the existing non-conventional security challenges and maritime conflicts with its neighbours. The successful use of security-related technology to outpace such non-conventional threats creates a demand for further bolstering such technologies for India's advantage. Besides, these prevailing threats to the ports and coastal region, the environmental security challenges also directly impact humans and cannot be undermined. The book covers all these facets in detail, identifying the specific fault lines and makes recommendations to address the non-conventional security challenges of India's ports, coast and maritime trade. The book will be of interest to policymakers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, and all those individuals and institutes interested in India's Ports, Coastal and Maritime Security.

This book focuses on various aspects of maritime security of India. Starting with the changing dimensions of national security, it addresses the issues such as non-traditional threats to security, the threat posed by non state actors, the causes of insecurity and also the imperatives of tackling the human security challenges. The need for a comprehensive change in India's security policy is well exposed and certain policy prescriptions are also given. The oceans are generally meant for better inaction among nations, especially in the era of accelerated pace of globalization. With regard to the coastal security of India the role of coastal community is significant. The needs for inculcating awareness among the coastal community on coastal security matters as well as infrastructure development along the coastal area are also emphasized. It is very important to look into the basic problems of coastal people as they face many human security challenges. When we look into the coastal security a convergence of the national security concerns and human security concerns is visible. The overall development of the coastal area would lead to better human security and better human security would result in enlisting the support of the coastal community to ensure national security programme, especially the coastal security. In short, coastal security is not only about protecting the coastal terrain and territorial waters from direct attacks by the state actors or non state actors, but also safeguarding the interests of all stake holders.

This book provides a synoptic view of the Indian Ocean and maritime security in its contested waters. Using a historical approach, it reveals vital links to events in the present day. The volume: Highlights the competition between major Asian powers to control the ‘String of Pearls’ — a reference to the Chinese attempts at controlling the Indian Ocean periphery. Shows that cooperation amongst the major powers of the region could abate the threat of the potential of conflict becoming global and inviting external intervention. Discusses India’s Look-East policy and the deepening relation between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Argues for the need of Indian Ocean states and particularly the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to look afresh at their political and security issues and common interests. Suggests measures for evolving a robust mechanism of maintaining the Indian Ocean as a sustainable zone of commerce, energy, security and peace rather than threat. A major contribution on a critical area in Asian geopolitics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of international relations, politics, defence studies and maritime security studies, along with strategic affairs experts and think tanks.

At the cusp of the 21st Century, the security of the Indian Ocean region continues to be confronted with boundless threats, more from non-traditional sources, that have obviously become manifold in the Post-Cold War era. These threats emanate from non-military sources like drug-trafficking, frequent cross-border terrorism, proliferation of small arms, demographic disequilibrium , spill-over effects of domestic violence, resource depletion, some ethno-religious and tribal conflicts, etc.

Scholars and policy makers have traditionally viewed portions of the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific as separate and discrete political, economic, and military regions. In recent years, however, a variety of economic, political, and military forces have made many within the academic community, as well as a growing number of national governmental leaders, change their perceptions and recognize that these maritime expanses are one zone of global interaction. Consequently, political, military, and economic developments in one maritime region increasingly have an impact elsewhere. Analyzing and assessing the contemporary maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific, this valuable study highlights the current prospects for peace and security in what is rapidly becoming recognized as an integrated and interactive political, military-strategic, and economic environment. This work will be of interest to researchers and policy makers involved in regional studies, as well as security studies, conflict resolution, military, and peace studies.

The Indian Ocean has emerged as a critical maritime space in the Asia-Pacific Littoral in view of the transformed strategic, security and economic significance of the region. The Indo-Asia-Pacific region is the greatest maritime-littoral space that has the largest concentration of population, resources, developing economies, congested sea lanes, and contested territorial spaces. It is thus significant in a geo-political, geo-economic and geo-strategic sense.The Centre for Security Analysis in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation organized an international symposium on The Changing Oceanic Landscape of the Indian Ocean Region: Issues of Debate fro 13-15 December, 2006 at Chennai. Analysts, practitioners and academicians from Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and USA participated in the event. This book is a compendium of the papers presented and discussed at the symposium.

This book uniquely employs risk and vulnerability approaches to advocate international policy options for enhancing maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Understanding shared risks and common vulnerabilities that impact the achievement of mutual objectives in the oceanic domain present practical bases for progressing collective action. The Indian Ocean sea lanes are the world’s most important thoroughfares for energy resources (oil, gas and coal) and other cargoes. Secure maritime trade routes are vital to global, regional and national economies. Further, security challenges resulting from marine environmental degradation impacted by climate change are rising. Regional and extra-regional actors need to work more closely together to impose law and order at sea, control regional conflicts, respond to humanitarian crises and natural disasters, and conserve the marine environment. This book provides an invaluable resource for political leaders, policy advisers, academic researchers, military professionals, and students of international security and strategic studies.