Citation

Singh KR. Int. Stud. (Delhi) 2003; 40(3): 229-245.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/002088170304000302

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since India's independence, maritime strategists in India and abroad have been trying to assess the nature of threat to India's maritime security and the need for appropriate responses. The nature of India's maritime threat perception has also undergone fundamental changes, keeping in view the changing regional and international environment as well as the very scope of its maritime security. This has been due to increasing awareness in India about its stakes, not only with regard to naval security, but also of the need to protect its interests in the sea such as overseas trade and commerce, and the related issues of ports and shipping. India has also become conscious of its new rights and related obligations under the provisions of the new law of the sea under the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)-III, which not only extended the limits of the territorial sea to 12 nautical miles, but also allowed the littoral state the exclusive right to exploit living and non-living resources in the adjacent exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the continental shelf. Yet another factor that has contributed to the new sense of maritime insecurity is the growing danger of piracy and armed robbery, and the possible dangers that low-intensity conflict may pose to maritime security by, for instance, launching of suicide attack by boats. Consequently, security of the sea lanes of communications (SLOC) has acquired a new relevance. Some questions need to be asked in this context. Why is there a sudden awareness of this aspect of maritime security? Were the sea lanes not threatened earlier; for example, during the Cold War era? Who threatens them now? What type of threat is posed and how can it be met? Where does India figure in this exercise? Can the sea lanes between the Persian Gulf and the Malacca Strait be secured by the users without the active cooperation from India? Is India equipped for the new role that is being thrust upon it as a "responsible" regional power? Does it amount to the role of a new "hegemon" at regional level?.

Language: en