Often you must have heard or read in newspapers that the Indian navy is conducting exercise with the navies of other countries in the Indian Ocean or the Arabian Sea or in the Bay of Bengal. Are such regular exercise, to boost cooperation with our counterparts so necessary that we end up spending millions of the taxpayer’s money?
Well, yes. India has a vast 7500 kilometres long coastline. It also makes one of the most exposed countries in Asia to the ocean and hence to the maritime challenges.
The existing concerns are then amplified by the rising conflicts, commercial rivalries and the race for energy security, and geopolitics.
Exposed to the wide oceans and seas, India’s concerns are as grave as terrorism, smuggling of arms, drugs and humans, attacks by foreign countries, encroachment on its territorial waters and many more.
The porous nature of maritime borders has always been exploited by terrorist groups and organised criminal syndicates. Be it the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, wherein the terrorists had entered India via boat from the Arabian Sea or regular incidents of major drug hauls at Mundra Port or from Pipapav in Gujarat, coastal borders have always remained a priority.
Other than terrorism and crime, piracy, that primarily originates from the Gulf of Aden and threatens the Western Indian coast, also poses a serious threat to India’s maritime security.
Trafficking, smuggling of banned goods, illicit arms, and human trafficking through the sea routes is also an unending challenge. From the Sundarbans Delta region between West Bengal and Bangladesh to the Palk Strait between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, these are some of the notorious stretches where the Indian law enforcement remain vigilant and cannot compromise on the national security.
Moreover, there are political tensions from our neighbouring countries be it Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, all of them also being important players in the India’s maritime region.
But when it comes to India, maritime challenges are not limited to terrorism and security challenges Trade becomes one of the most important factors here.
Almost half of all global trade is through the shipping routes in the Indo Pacific region, and there is strong and sustained economic development across the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, parts of South Asia, the Gulf region, and the East and Southern coasts of Africa.
India alone has 12 major ports and over 200 minor ports that handle the majority of India’s maritime trade and the country owns over 30% of the global ship-breaking market share, and is home to the world’s largest ship-breaking facility at Alang.
At the same time, India’s economy largely relies on imports of energy, which are transported by sea. And since the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is vulnerable to threats due to its strategic significance, it is the role of the Indian Navy to protects Indian and foreign merchant ships and shipping routes in the Indian Ocean region.
For this purpose, India’s ability to launch strategic nuclear delivery systems from land, air, and sea makes it a threat for illicit traders and attackers. Further, the INS Arighaat, India’s second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that patrols these key trade regions has bolstered the country’s nuclear triad.
It also remains a well-known fact worldwide that the Indian Navy has expertise in the design and construction of various types of warships. Its self-sufficiency in power generation and distribution systems, communication systems, Combat Management Systems, Sonars, and Electronic Warfare Systems also is known to the global powers.
Not just this but the Indian navy also uses ISRO’s satellites like Rukmini and GSAT-7A for maritime surveillance and its Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Radar systems installed to track maritime activities in real-time makes it an effective law enforcer in the Indo Pacific region.
Since 2008, Indian Navy has deployed units in Gulf of Aden and East coast of Africa towards anti piracy patrols. A total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been safely escorted.
It is therefore significant that the Indian Navy units be regularly deployed on mission basis in areas of interest in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to enhance maritime security and undertake surveillance to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness and address contingencies that may arise.
This is why the Indian Navy has been proactively engaging with regional and extra-regional navies/maritime forces, to promote maritime security in the IOR. Bilateral and multilateral maritime exercises, Joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance, Coordinated Patrols (CORPATs) with Friendly Foreign Countries are being undertaken by Indian Navy to only enhance maritime security and counter non-traditional threats in an inclusive and cooperative manner.
In another committed initiative towards strengthening regional maritime security, Government of India has established Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) which has linkages with 25 partner nations and over 40 international multinational organisations for real-time information exchange towards enhancing maritime security.
In addition, information exchange and intelligence sharing is also something that India has always promoted and undertaken with friendly foreign countries to identify the source, reasons and the players behind potential threats to its maritime set up.
