India’s Maritime Security and Policy: An Imperative for the Blue Economy

Abstract

Maritime security has now become multipronged as against the earlier view of defense against military attacks and the protection of a nation’s sovereignty at sea. It now encompasses non-traditional challenges, such as maritime terrorism, natural disasters, climate change, illegal fishing, marine pollution, maritime safety, and the smuggling of drugs, arms, and people. The need for maritime security at a national level is the capability to patrol and conduct maritime surveillance and enforcement of national laws in national maritime zones and to cooperate with neighboring countries and the international community generally in the provision of good order at sea. Therefore, with so many apparent threats in the domain of maritime security, India is now focusing on the areas of maritime jurisdiction, partly for the future of mankind, and more specifically to undertake regenerative and restorative activities to ensure sustainable and enhanced economic development through harnessing blue industries. However, at this stage, the preparedness for the Blue Economy is fraught with challenges that require robust maritime security governance in the Indian Ocean Region to harness the economic potential of these areas. As India is taking renewed interest in the promotion of the Blue Economy, it is important that its policy decisions are capable of tackling the ill-effects of sea encroachment, water pollution, dumping of wastes, unregulated exploitation of maritime resources, and climate change. India can successfully implement the concept of the Blue Economy by adopting urbanization with positive connotations, adherence to low carbon and environment-friendly technologies to ocean development, among others. To implement the determinants of the Blue Economy and mitigate the challenges at sea, India needs to focus on maritime domain awareness, information and technology sharing, remote sensing, ocean data acquisition devices, etc. However, for the sustenance of the Blue Economy, a National Maritime Authority should be set up that would help to bring together a number of national/state bodies and can help formulate a maritime vision, draw up plans, and coordinate economic, environmental, and security activities in the maritime economy domain which can then work to ‘formulate a National Maritime Security Policy.’ This could then be integrated with the maritime strategy which would automatically ‘reinforce maritime security,’ to address coastal security concerns. This paper throws light upon the potential and challenges of the Blue Economy and includes ideas about how maritime security arrangements could be improved since no economic development, business activity, or employment generation can thrive in an atmosphere of disorder/insecurity.