Advances by China in deep Seabed mining and its security implications for India

Abstract

ABSTRACT Both India and China are ‘Pioneer investor’ nations for Deep Seabed Mining (DSM). Both these nations commenced their exploration quest of the deep seabed at nearly the same time and today are one of the few nations persisting with DSM. These notwithstanding, the developments made by China in this comparative period are many magnitudes more than that made by India. While India has limited its research to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), China has gone global to win five exploration contracts from the International Seabed Authority (ISA). China is also rated as the first country that would commence exploitation once the exploitation rules are promulgated by the ISA. In going global, China has the exploration rights in the Indian Ocean for polymetallic sulphides with efforts to acquire some more Area in this oceanic space. While China grows technologically in the field of DSM and deploys its assets in the IOR, it is adding to the already skewed threat perception thereby becoming a matter of security concern for India. It is with this understanding that the article aims to look at the developments made and the involvement of China in the IOR for DSM and their resultant security implications for India.