Securing the Indian Ocean

Context: India’s decision to convene an open debate of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on enhancing maritime security, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 9, reflects India’s international evolution as a maritime nation.

Need for effective maritime cooperation

• Responding to natural disasters: The fallout of the 2004 tsunami, which took a heavy toll on human and natural resources, led to the creation of an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System by the UN in 2005.
• Man-made challenges: Faced with the increased threat from piracy originating off the coast of Somalia since 2007 to shipping in the western Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy participated robustly as part of a UNSC mandated 60-country Contact Group on Piracy off the coast of Somalia.
• Maritime Security: With a coastline of over 7,500 km, India has a natural interest in enhancing maritime security.
• The Indian Ocean region transports 75 per cent of the world’s maritime trade and 50 per cent of daily global oil consumption.
• India’s Security and Growth for All (SAGAR) policy, unveiled by PM Modi during a visit to Mauritius in March 2015, proposes an integrated regional framework to meet such an objective in the Indian Ocean.

Way Forward

• Building on supportive framework in the policy and operational areas: Two such frameworks are:
  • An effective legal policy framework must underpin a rule-of-law based approach to securing the maritime domain and focus on the application of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
  • Reviewing the operational effectiveness of the UNCLOS, especially regarding the enforcement of its provisions on freedom of navigation, the sustainable exploitation of maritime resources, and the peaceful resolution of disputes.
• Securing the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) that traverse the oceans is of central importance to enhancing maritime security.
• The debate must focus on ensuring equal and unrestricted access to SLOCs by states while resolving differences through peaceful means.
• Sharing data on threats: To commercial shipping is an important component of enhancing maritime security.
  • International Fusion Centre (IFC) for the Indian Ocean region in Gurugram is jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard and serves the objective of generating Maritime Domain Awareness on safety and security issues.

Conclusion: With rising private participation,  the ability of the UNSC to endorse a multiple stakeholder approach to enhancing maritime security would be a significant outcome, setting a paradigm for upholding “multidimensional” security in the 21st century.