MARITIME MESS IN INDIAN OCEAN
Article Published in New Indian Express
May 6th 2014
Two
major discussions that dominate any discourse on maritime challenges in the
Indian Ocean region are piracy and the emergence of China as a major naval
power and its growing ambitions. Both these issues raise grave concerns for both
major and smaller powers in the region and other extra regional global powers. Trade
and livelihoods of the people of the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean, as
well as those of the small island nations, are contingent on the living and non-living
marine resources of the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, several other land locked
countries in the region like Nepal, Afghanistan, and Bhutan depend on access to
the Indian Ocean for international trading and for the steady growth of their
economies. Transnational and
non-traditional threats in this region are increasing and should be addressed
with far more diligence than being done at present as they will decide the
future balance of power in the region. Maritime challenges of this region
extend beyond national strategic ambitions and are far more complex. These challenges
may not be perceived as being compelling at present but they will have
significant impact over a period of time. It is therefore, incumbent to not only
identify these other issues but also to include them while framing national
policies and concluding multilateral and international conventions and agreements.
The Indian Ocean region consists of 26 countries
in various stages of social and economic development. There is disparity among
these countries in terms of economic growth, social development and societal stability
which has resulted in competition for scarce resources among the nations, as in
the case of fishing and other living resources. It has also led to the
disproportionate exploitation of the constantly depleting resources by some technologically
developed countries to the detriment of others in the region. As the region is rich in mineral resources
like uranium, cobalt, nickel, gold and also has 55% of the world’s oil reserves
and 40% of global gas reserves - foreign powers, too, which are not
geographically placed in the region, are displaying their keenness to gain a
foothold here. Besides, counter-piracy efforts and counter terrorism measures have
approved the naval presence of
these
foreign powers in the Indian Ocean region. With the extra regional power like the
US positioning itself here, regional powers like China India, Russia, Iran and
Pakistan are strengthening their positions and increasing their naval prowess
to counter potential strategic threats by US and the US aligned states. Thus, new
maritime disputes stemming from geo-strategic interests and new maritime
boundary claims are the result of the new players in the region.
There
are various other non-traditional threats that exist in the Indian Ocean region
that require regional cooperation. Development of port security is essential
for healthy sea-borne trade and safe harbours and ports are essential for the
economic development of the entire region. However, the spurt of recent attacks
in which technologically superior warships have been threatened by low-tech
attacks has also raised serious concerns. Many of the ports are vulnerable, as
are the various off shore installations in these countries. The island nations
and archipelagos are most vulnerable as they can be accessed from any point of
exposure. Environmental threats also abound in the region. 40% of the 4 billion
people in Asia live within 100 kilometres of the coast. Rising ocean level,
changing weather patterns due to global warming will increase the stress in the
coastal regions. The island nations face greater threats as the seas close in
on them and this will result in demographic changes from migration that will
create severe stress and perceivable imbalances in the mainland. Destruction of
natural barriers in the seas will also lead to erosion which will adversely affect
the population and their lives in the coastal areas as well as in the mainland
abutting coastal regions. The overall effects of these factors will be serious
destabilisation in the countries of this region creating conflicts among the
nations as they will struggle with the new changing realities. Depletion of
water resources due to costal salinization will affect not only the life of the
people along the coast but also affect food production elsewhere. Land based
pollution from sewage and drainage discharges and marine based pollution from
spillages, ballast waters and illegal waste dumping affects not just a single nation
but has impact on the region as a whole. All these issues are hardly addressed
by the countries that place huge reliance mainly on the enhancement of their
naval capabilities.
Resources
of the Indian Ocean have to be brought under the scrutiny of protection. Illegal and unregulated fishing by local
vessels has led to depletion of stocks in national waters of several countries
while similar action by foreign vessels has caused antagonism among nations. The
constant engagement of Sri Lanka and India in the fishermen issues is well
known but other countries in the region face similar confrontations. Indonesia
faces an estimated loss of $ 4000 million annually due to illegal and unregulated
fishing. The link of this component to maritime
security issues is that these vessels are also used for trafficking humans,
arms, drugs and other illegal activities.
Non-state
actors in the Indian Ocean region raise different threat issues. Terrorists
groups have attacked oil tankers, passenger ship and off shore installations
with impunity. The attack in Aden of USS Cole, of the French super tanker
Limburg and several such incidents has underlined these dangers. Weak
governments and insufficient border controls along the coast have exposed their
vulnerability. The attack that took place in Mumbai in 2008, where the
terrorists group chose the sea route to enter India, highlighted the dangers of
the unregulated maritime domain. Numerous Incidents of piracy in the Indian
Ocean region in recent times has resulted in the creation of private security
agencies to safeguard the ships. However, recent incidents especially in the
Indian context; namely, the Enrica Lexie case and the Seaman Guard Ohio case
have underlined the dangers of the presence of private armed guards aboard ships.
Lack of regulations and insufficient coherent policy framework has created more
issues and concerns than solved the safety issues .The flouting of norms of
international laws by the agencies is the undesirable fallout of these security
concerns.
Maintaining
good order at sea and constant engagements between the nations of the Indian
Ocean region is the only way to address all these issues. International
maritime assistance and building strategic confidence will lead to the
increased safety of the sea lanes for trade. Transparency in the national
maritime policies will reduce maritime coercion and mitigate the tensions
created by the strategic placement of large and imposing naval assets. The countries
of the Indian Ocean region have to redefine the roles of their navies from that
of constabulary and expand it to one of maintaining good order at sea and of
protection of maritime resources.
