MARITIME POSTION OF INDIA & ITS BENEFIT

In the wake of growing maritime trade (through Sea Line of Communication), increasing maritime security threats (piracy) and vigorous race for marine resources (petroleum, polymetalic nodules, etc), Naval strength and maritime infrastructure has become indispensable not only for securing a strategic advantage in world geopolitics but also to secure county's vital economic lifeline.

In this backdrop , the new Chinese leadership has proposed revival of Maritime Silk Route as a Sea counter  part of  it's OBOR (One Belt One Road i.e. land silk route), which will drastically transform its connectivity with Indian Ocean littoral states and countries of South East Asia. The proposed port cities and maritime infrastructure will become conduit of economic cooperation and will elevate China to a strategic vantage.

Why China needs Maritime Silk Route (MSR)?

• To revive Chinese Economy: When the export led Chinese is facing a phase of slowdown, the land and maritime silk route initiatives will act as lucrative investment destination of  huge Forex reserve , with a positive impact on its trade and economy.
• Strategic advantage : Given the rising significance of South East Asia and Indian Ocean , the Maritime Silk Route will provide a strategic advantage to Chinese by legalizing its presence in important port centres of Indian Ocean (which has become the new great game of global powers).
• Peripheral Diplomacy: Through MSR, China aims to pose a soft and reassuring posture among its neighbourhood, where tensions are rising over China's hegemonic power projection and unilateral appropriation of South China Sea.
• Maritime security & Regional stability: Presence of mammoth Chinese Navy will ensure maritime security (from piracy, etc) along the entire Sea Line of  Communications (SLOC).
• A counter to US pivot towards Asia: MSR will act as a counter balance to US pivot and encircling of China.The economic content will provide a stronger glue to the underlying strategic ambition.

Implications for India

Despite several proposals from Chinese Government, India has successfully skirted out the controversial MSR.

India should sincerely evaluates the advantages and concerns of MSR initiative before taking any decision on it.

Advantages are:

• Huge opportunity for maritime economic cooperation: In the backdrop of slowing Chinese export , India can leverage its low cost labour and raw-material. MSR presents an opportunity to strengthen India's manufacturing base, propagate its 'Make in India' campaign, and generate employment opportunities.
• Port led Development: MSR has the potential to act as a vital supplement to the the proposed "Sagarmala" project if properly integrated with Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) and other existing regional maritime infrastructure.
• Maritime Security force multiplier: India can partner the superior Chinese Navy to ensure peace security in the Indian Ocean Rim, which is prone to various security threats ranging from piracy to maritime terrorism.(Indian Navy being the sole security provider in the entire region).
• Political Dividend: Enhanced maritime cooperation and increased Chinese investment will lead to China developing greater stake in India, which may lead to greater interdependence and softening of stance in other areas like border dispute.

Concern Areas are :

• Opacity in MSR: Though China has carefully projected MSR as an exclusive commercial venture, it has not yet released the details about the project, making countries (including India) apprehensive about its tacit & tactic military intensions.
• Doubtful credential: China's positioning of an exploration rig in the Vietnam's EEZ, its skirmishes with Philippines over the Scarborough reef, and the aggressive patrols off the Senkaku islands clearly shows Chinese intensions in the Western Pacific are anything but benign. With unsettled issues of sovereignty and sovereign jurisdiction over disputed Islands in the South China Sea and the East Sea, Beijing's expectation of a free-pass to create an entire infrastructure corridor in a contested maritime space, appears seriously doubtful.
• Strategic encircling and string of pearls: India has serious apprehensions that the maritime infrastructure will legitimize Chinese army positioning in the Indian Ocean. The China-Pakistan economic corridor, Gwadar port and growing proximity with India's maritime neighbours can hugely impair India's strategic role in its maritime neighbourhood.
• Indian endorsement of Chinese hegemony: If  India joins the  race of  availing cheap Chinese  Infrastructure fund without ensuring it's detailed long term impact and underlying motive, it will end up endorsing Chinese hegemonic stance and loose the confidence of the regional states as an worthy balancer of growing Chinese dominance.
• Chinese ambition in African Resource: With Chinese eye on emerging African economy and it's huge untapped resource, the MSR may turn a surrogate for giant Chinese SLOC, setting up Chinese logistical hubs in the Indian Ocean. This can bring in stiff competition for India as a natural economic partner of Africa (India enjoys a strategic advantage in Africa owing to its historical and cultural linkages).

Conclusion:

India's appreciation of the MSR must be based on an objective appraisal of these new realities. Even assuming the project delivers on its economic promise, it could well turn out to be detrimental to India's geopolitical interests in the India Ocean Region (IOR). As Beijing becomes more involved in building infrastructure in the Indian Ocean, it will play a larger part in the security and governance of the IOR, which could pose a challenge to India's stature as a 'security provider' in the region and also adversely affecting New Delhi's strategic purchase in its primary area of interest.

The objective of Maritime Security is mainly to protect Indian coastal and offshore assets response to attacks and threats, risks emanating from or at sea.

The seamless nature of the maritime domain enables ready flow of threats and challenges from one area to another. In recent years, the rise in non-traditional threats, especially maritime terrorism, has necessitated increased focus on coastal and offshore security.

Maritime terrorism has grown and expanded over the years, operating from the sea and at sea, in both direct and indirect forms. It has also started taking an increasingly hybrid character, with possible blurring of  lines between conventional and sub-conventional levels of conflict.

The strategy for coastal and offshore security  should  accordingly, been developed with focus on the Indian Navy, as per its current mandate and being the principal maritime force of  the nation, in a framework of jointness and coordination with the other maritime agencies. An increasing role and operational responsibilities are envisaged to be takenup by the Indian Coast Guard and other agencies, as their capabilities and the ambit of  coastal security both evolve.

Different facets of maritime security

• Coastal security is a subset of maritime security, focused on the coastal waters. It is ensured through coordinated efforts amongst multiple stakeholders at the Centre and States, towards provision of comprehensive security against traditional and non-traditional threats. Coastal security has a wide connotation encompassing maritime border management, island security, maintenance of peace, stability and good order in coastal areas and enforcement of  laws therein, security of  ports, coastal installations and other structures, including Vital Areas and Vital Points (VAs/ VPs), vessels and personnel operating in coastal areas. An effective organisation for coastal security also facilitates coastal defence.
• Offshore security relates to the safety and protection of offshore assets, including artificial islands, offshore terminals, installations and other structures and devices in the EEZ. It is a primary responsibility of  the Indian Coast Guard, which would be supported by the Indian Navy as required towards overall maritime security. Indian naval ships, including dedicated Immediate Support Vessels (ISVs), conduct regular offshore defence patrols in the Offshore Development Areas (ODA) in support of  offshore security. The seaward approaches are sanitised by other ships and aircraft of  the Coast Guard and Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy

Entrusted with the responsibility for overall maritime security, including coastal security and offshore security. The Indian Navy is assisted by the Indian Coast Guard, State Marine Police, andother Central and State agencies for the coastal defence of  the nation, and controls all Navy - Coast Guard joint operations. The Indian Navy supports the Indian Coast Guard within the maritime zones as required, and provides presence, including surveillance and patrol, on the high seas beyond the EEZ. The Indian Navy also undertakes patrolling in the ODA, and its Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) specialised force undertakes patrolling of  naval harbours.

State Marine Police

The State Marine Police is responsible for patrolling the inner layer from the coastline upto the territorial waters, in coordination with Customs, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and respective port authorities, as relevant.

Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard patrols the maritime zones of  India, and supports the State Marine Police within the inner layer as required.

Different reporting mechanism for handling security?

• Position Reporting Systems: Indian and foreign vessels report their positions by various means, including manual and automatic, under voluntary and mandatory mechanisms. This is done to improve security response, search and rescue, and collision-avoidance.
• Fishing Vessels and License Information Management: Verification and monitoring of the identity and ownership of about 2,45,000 fishing vessels in India, amidst a fishing community of about 4 million, has been greatly eased by creation of the online ReALCraft (Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft) portal. The information is also available to the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
• Biometric Identity Cards: Issuance of biometric identity cards to majority fishermen and composite card readers to the maritime security agencies has been done, to enable biometric verification of the identity of fishing vessel crews at Sea.
• Port Vessel Information Management: The details of various vessels in harbour and their planned movements are available with the major ports, which have developed an online information portal, called the Port Community System (PCS). This information is shared with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. Similar steps would be pursued for the non-major ports.
• Static Surveillance: Surveillance radars and Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers have been fitted along the Indian coast, islands and offshore installations. Radars at major ports monitor and manage traffic approaching respective harbours. These various static surveillance systems provide active information on vessels operating in their vicinity (upto 25 nm, or 45 km), and feed into the development of Maritime Domain Awareness(MDA).
• Dynamic Surveillance: Dynamic surveillance is undertaken by deployment of  Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and State Marine Police assets, in multiple layers across the coastal waters and seaward approaches. These include Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft in the outer layer, Short Range Maritime Reconnaissance (SRMR) aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and ships across the interim layers, and patrol vessels and micro-UAVs in the inner layer. These will be aided by space based surveillance, to increase and intensify the surveillance cover.

Importance of coastal community participation

Coastal and fishing communities are the largest constituents of the coastal security framework and are amongst its core strengths. Effective involvement of the vast fourmillion strong fishing community, and the larger coastal community, has the potentialto significantly complement efforts of  the security agencies.

The maritime security agencies have initiated many activities related to it such as:

Community Interaction Programmes (CIP) are being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard at all fishing hamlets, to enhance awareness of  the coastal populace and fishermen in particular. Initiatives such as the Sagar Rakshak Dal and Village Vigilance Committees, who are a voluntary group from fishing and coastal communities, assist the security agencies in surveillance, intelligence and patrolling, and have contributed to enhancing coastal security in several states.

Toll free communication arrangements have been established, with shore-based control centres manned by State Marine Police/Indian Coast Guard personnel in all states and Union Territories (UTs), in order to facilitate coastal community participation. These measures have not only improved security but have also saved lives, and provide an important link between fishermen and security agencies

Conclusion:

Coastal security involves multiple stakeholders with both, independent and shared responsibilities. Hence coordination amongst these agencies should be maintained through a cooperative approach that will focus on the key aspects described below, whilst remaining sensitive to any limitations and constraints of partner agencies. This should takes into consideration the specific needs of  changing threat levels, including conditions wherein a coastal security operation may need to translate rapidly into a coastal defence operation, with joint deployment of forces from multiple maritime agencies.