Maritime Security

The recent Joint Statement issued after the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Melbourne indicates the grouping’s drive towards institutionalisation and coming close to achieving a concrete mandate for its existence.

• Abhay Kumar Singh , R. Vignesh
• March 04, 2022
• Issue Brief

The Indo-Pacific construct has significantly enhanced the strategic salience of both India and Australia in a multipolar region. While the two nations have considerably deepened their strategic partnership, there is scope for much more improvement in several sectors.

• R.P. Singh
• February 23, 2022
• Issue Brief

The recent visit of the Chief of US Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday to India is not only significant to the national security narrative of India and the US but it is also bound to have a profound impact on the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region.

• R. Vignesh
• October 28, 2021
• IDSA Comments

The future of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) will depend on the choices that China makes.

• Amb. Sujan R. Chinoy
• April 09, 2021
• Policy Brief

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a prominent arena in international politics, in terms of trade, tourism, population, among other aspects. Several countries, some unconnected geographically, have shown interest in these waters. These entities offer financial, technical, infrastructural and capacity-building support, and security services to several IOR countries. India, the prominent resident power of this ocean, and others, consider this development unnecessary, uncalled for and unacceptable.

• Sainandan S. Iyer , Ranadhir Mukhopadhyay , Sridhar D. Iyer
• January 2021
• Strategic Analysis

It would have been difficult to visualise the current scenario in Sino-Indian relations just before COVID-19 overtook the world narrative. This was considering the immense political capital poured into the relationship by the Indian government, first at Wuhan in 2017 and then in Mamallapuram in 2019. It might be argued by some that the Doklam incident of 2017 should have been enough for India to wake up and smell the coffee.

• Roby Thomas
• July-September 2020
• Journal of Defence Studies

Considering the wide expanse to be covered on both sides of the Indian Peninsula, and the possibility of concurrent operations on either side, it is imperative that India maintains an operational carrier battle group on both sides, and at all times.

• Roby Thomas
• October 30, 2019
• Issue Brief

With approximately 74 million Sq Km and 20per cent of the global ocean, the Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world. Alarmingly, this area has over the last two decades been plagued with unprecedented grave maritime security challenges. Dauntingly, these problems are dynamic and cross-jurisdictional. Consequently, combating them necessitates combined efforts among states. This article explores the efficacy of the maritime security architecture within the Indian Ocean rim countries, focusing on the co-operation between India and African states.

• Njoki Mboce
• July 2019
• Strategic Analysis

The revival of the centuries-old ‘Silk Road at Sea’ into a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is an integral part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chinese White Paper on its vision for enhancing maritime cooperation broadly confirms this perception, since it considers maritime security assurance as the lynchpin of MSR initiatives. As its trade and overseas economic interests have been constantly growing, Beijing’s strategic concern about protection of these interests has magnified.

• Abhay Kumar Singh
• October-December 2018
• Journal of Defence Studies

Africa has an extensive and strategically located maritime space. This domain is vital for various reasons, including its abundance of economic resources and as a conduit for trade. Unfortunately, the potential of the African maritime space is being undermined by persistent, multifaceted and fluid domestic, regional and international threats and vulnerabilities. To tackle this, littoral African states have entered into various collaborative engagements at international and inter-agency level. The success of these arrangements is in turn greatly hampered by various practical challenges, including mistrust, diversity, ‘silo approach’ and lack of identified common Afro-centric security priorities and protocols. An urgent need for a functional collaborative engagement emerges as vital for a sustainable blue economy in Africa.

• Njoki Mboce
• July-December 2018
• Africa Trends