Securing Indias Maritime Neighbourhood

Challenges and Opportunities

Chauhan, R. Seshadri Vasan, Rishi Athreya, Chauhan, R. Seshadri Vasan, Rishi Athreya

• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9789389620641
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book is a compilation of papers presented at a day-long conference organised in Chennai, on March 28 2019 by the Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S) in partnership with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras, and supported by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard on the theme, "Securing India's Maritime Neighbourhood: Challenges and Opportunities". Contributors included a whole galaxy of luminaries from the serving and veteran echelons of the Indian Armed Forces, the diplomatic community, maritime industry, doyens of Indian academia, and distinguished personalities from the Fourth Estate. A number of facets of seminal importance to national security were addressed in the book. These included conceptual, geopolitical, economic, environmental and technological issues.

Maritime Diplomacy furthering India’s
Maritime Aspirations in the IOR

Rishi Athreya

India’s Maritime Domain

India’s primary area of maritime interest includes India’s coastal areas and the Indian Navy and Coast Guard patrol areas falling within the Maritime Zones of India;¹ the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Mozambique Channel, and South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO); and, the littoral regions of each of these fringing-seas of the Indian Ocean, as also the several island nations contained within this oceanic expanse.^2,3 Within these loose spatial bounds, India aims to secure the maritime commons.⁴ Historically, India has had an active maritime presence in the Indian Ocean littoral, particularly with countries that have had close cultural ties to India.^5,6 Sri Lanka and Maldives are India’s proximate southern neighbours, while Mauritius and Seychelles are in the larger Indian Ocean littoral. The main chokepoints within India’s maritime domain are those leading to, -from, and -across the Indian Ocean, including the Six-Degree Channel; the Eight/Nine-Degree Channels; the straits of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, Malacca, Singapore, Sunda, and Lombok; the Mozambique Channel, and, the Cape of Good Hope.⁷ Given its access to the major chokepoints leading to the South China Sea, especially the Malacca Strait, and including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India enjoys a geographically advantageous position in the eastern Indo-Pacific. An important regional grouping that India is pushing is the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).⁸

This paper focusses on the immediate maritime neighbourhood as defined by the following areas ⁹:

• The Strait of Hormuz to the West: countries of the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea.

• The Mozambique Channel to the South West: Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion Island.

• The Malacca Strait and the Andaman Sea to the East: Singapore, and the Banda Aceh port on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

Determinants of Maritime Security

The key determinants for shaping the maritime security strategy cover broader maritime strategic imperatives and more specific maritime security drivers ¹⁰.

Broader maritime strategic imperatives.¹¹ India is centrally located within the Indian Ocean, with unfettered access across the IOR. The country has cooperative relations with neighbours, based on adherence to international norms. India depends on the seas for its national development. Maritime economic activities include energy, trade, and fisheries. Non-Resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India are another important interest. There are major foreign investments by Indian businesses. Many of India’s activities are dependent upon the ‘International Shipping Lanes’ (ISLs) that crisscross the Indian Ocean. Consequently, ensuring Freedom of Navigation (FoN) along these ISLs (and, in times of tension or conflict, ensuring these freedoms along the country’s ‘Sea Lines of Communication’ [SLOCs]), is an important national maritime interest. In pursuance of these imperatives, India faces both, traditional and non-traditional maritime threats. These are continuously being assessed.¹² There is considerable scope and value in undertaking cooperation and coordination between various navies to counter common threats at sea. Table 1 provides a summary of India’s main maritime interests.

Traditional Threats and Sources. These are threats from States holding an inimical posture vis-à-vis India. Hostile actions on the part of these States would be high in terms of scale and scope. Sudden politico-economic and/ or military events may also affect the regional security scenario. Historical alliances are increasingly becoming indistinct. Moreover, there are multiple players in the global scenario and it is not uncommon to find that economic ties and imperatives are not perfectly aligned with a country’s traditional political agenda.

According to some analysts, an important aim for India’s maritime policy is to reduce the influence of China.¹³ India has longstanding challenges in its relations with China and Pakistan,¹⁴ but in recent years, the China factor has become more important due to that country’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI).¹⁵ There is Chinese presence across the board, which India is forced to factor into its own security calculus. For instance, the sharply increased presence of Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean can definitely be perceived to be an expansionist tactic. It is suggested that India increase maritime military engagement with the major littoral States of Australia, Japan, USA and Indonesia.¹⁶ Of these, the first three form part of the Quad.

Although Pakistan’s naval expansion not as often noticed as it might have been before the military rise of China, the latter has been providing maritime assistance to the former ¹⁷ and, as a consequence, Pakistan, too, has been able to upgrade its naval infrastructure ¹⁸ and has developed sea-denial capabilities.¹⁹ Pakistan undertakes the biennial exercise, AMAN,²⁰ whose latest edition was attended by a large number of navies.²¹ Moreover, tensions on land often spill over into the maritime domain.²²

Non-Traditional Threats and Sources. There has been an increase in non-traditional security threats, e.g., piracy, and terrorism, in recent years. There are often State-sponsors of such activities. Changes in the nature of non-traditional threats and challenges necessitate corresponding changes in strategies, force structures, operating methodology, training and coordination mechanisms. In the specific case of India, the events of 26/11 are a prime example of non-traditional threats.

Table 1: National Maritime Interests ²³

Maritime Engagement

India takes a realist approach to the global maritime domain, viewing it as essentially anarchic and characterised by intense competition. It consequently concludes that nation-states need to adopt hard-power and/or soft-power measures.²⁴ The main roles for the Indian Navy are Military, Diplomatic, Constabulary, and Benign.²⁵ Navies are good at the diplomatic role on account of the inherent characteristics of warships and the sovereign power that they represent, which is easy to deploy in distant areas.²⁶ Shaping the broader maritime environment to counter threats across regions requires cooperation between concerned nations and their navies. Maritime engagements are the principal means of maritime diplomacy. Maritime diplomacy is in frequent evidence at the conceptual, political and executive levels and there needs to be cooperation at each of these levels.²⁷ Table 2 gives an overview of India’s Maritime Security Aims and Objectives.

Maritime Security Objective: To shape a favourable and positive maritime environment, for enhancing net security in India’s areas of maritime interest ²⁸.

Defence Diplomacy. Defence Diplomacy could be defined as the peaceful use of the military as a tool of national foreign policy. Obviously, it has to be synergised with other forms and uses of diplomacy.²⁹ It does not replace but, instead, supplements the overall foreign and security policy, under a given political leadership.³⁰ All military diplomacy has the objectives of strengthening diplomatic ties with other countries, training the nation’s armed forces, acquiring better weapon-technologies, and, acquiring a sphere of influence.³¹ The basic aim of India’s defence diplomacy is to promote goodwill towards India overseas.^32,33 Each of the three Defence Forces has a role in the conduct of defence diplomacy...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Conference Concept Note
• Keynote Address
• Theme Address: India’s Regional Alliances in the Indo-Pacific
• Inaugural Address
• Maritime Diplomacy – Furthering India’s Maritime Aspirations in IOR
• China’s Rise and Expanding Footprint in India’s Neighbourhood
• Commercial & Military Applications of Maritime Silk Road
• Integrated Coastal Security Management- After the Mumbai Terror Attack
• Kautilya’s Prescription and Relevance for India’s Neighbourhood Management
• Sustainable Fisheries and Best Management Practices in the Bay of Bengal
• Mercantile Marine as a Force Multiplier for Prosperity and Security
• BIMSTEC and Mausam: India’s Answers to Chinese Maritime Silk Route
• China’s Forays into the Indian Ocean: A Case of Anti-Piracy Operations
• Valedictory Address
• About the Contributors