• EVENT REPORTS

India should rejuvenate centuries-old seafaring tradition

2016

Mar

16

China’s foray into the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is a major strategic and diplomatic challenge to India’s dominant role in the Indian Ocean. And promoting and securing India’s maritime interests require greater cooperation between the stakeholders in Government and the armed forces, said naval experts and former diplomats during a discussion titled “The increasing salience of India’s maritime diplomacy in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond”.

They said India has a pivotal role to play in shaping the emerging maritime security architecture and order in the Indo-Pacific. With its economic and security interests expanding rapidly and a Diaspora spread across continents, India’s maritime diplomacy — backed by its burgeoning naval power – will be increasingly called upon to address an ever expanding range of economic opportunities, governance challenges and threats to maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) – stretching from the horn of Africa to the strait of Malacca.

During the discussion at Observer Research Foundation on February 23, the experts stressed the need for India to build a proactive narrative to better articulate its diplomatic initiatives in the IOR and shed its ‘continental mindset’

The discussion focused on the changing character of India’s maritime calculus amidst the rapidly evolving maritime security environment in the IOR. The panel was chaired by Mr. Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and Distinguished Fellow, ORF. The panellists included Mr. G. Parthasarathy, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, Vice Admiral P. Kaushiva (Retd), Mr. Yogendra Kumar, former ambassador to Philippines and Dr. P.K.Ghosh, Senior Fellow, ORF.

In his introductory remarks, Mr Chakravarty highlighted the salience of the seas to India’s overall economic well-being and prosperity. India’s ‘continental mindset’ was a product of its gradual decline as a major power in the Indian Ocean and the arrival of colonial naval powers on its soil. With growing aspirations to emerge as a great power, India should rejuvenate its long lost ‘seafaring tradition’ that was assiduously cultivated during the reign of the Kalinga, Chola and Maratha dynasties. The IOR is pivotal to the stability of global trade and commerce and serves as the torch bearer of a fast expanding ‘blue economy’. He also emphasised the geopolitical significance of the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands to India’s maritime strategy in the IOR.

Mr. Yogendra Kumar’s talk was based on his recently published book, ‘Diplomatic Dimension of Maritime Challenges for India in the 21st Century’. He stated that India’s maritime capabilities developed somewhat slowly post-independence due to other security preoccupations. Despite financial constraints, India’s capacity to shape its strategic environment in the immediate neighbourhood remained intact. The end of the cold war left the detritus of failed/failing states in the IOR littoral, thus negatively impacting India’s security environment. Moreover, India’s ‘maritime blindness’ was emblematic of a loss of civilizational greatness after the onset of colonialism that turned the Indian Ocean into a ‘British Lake’.

India’s maritime challenges need to be analysed in a holistic manner which encompasses the Navy, coast guard, coastal security, shipping (as an aspect of national economic and technological regeneration), and ocean affairs (climate change, ocean resources etc.). Moreover, Indian maritime diplomacy needs to look beyond traditional security rivalries in the IOR and focus its attention on the mutating ‘non-traditional’ security and governance challenges. These challenges include climate change, cyber warfare, weapons and terrorism, jihadist insurgency, piracy and armed robbery, littoral security, natural disasters and the threat from pandemics among others. He also stated that the ‘arrival’ of China in the Indian Ocean poses a strategic and diplomatic challenge to India’s role in the IOR, as the current tensions prevalent in the South China Sea (SCS) could easily spill over into the Indian Ocean.

Mr. Parthasarathy’s talk focused on the use of sea water as a source of drinking water through the appropriate use of desalination technology. He highlighted the need to harness the potential of the sea as a means to generate wave energy. While offering an overview of maritime developments around the world, he referred to China’s assertive moves in the Indian Ocean. Besides making investments in India’s immediate neighbourhood, China is also investing in potential dual-use port facilities in far flung areas of the IOR rim in places such as Djibouti in Africa. He recommended that India’s maritime cooperation should extend beyond Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius to include Madagascar. Also, India needs a comprehensive ‘Look west’ maritime security policy that engages actively with countries in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region. India is developing the requisite naval power to address these emerging challenges. To meet the challenges of the future, India needs to reform higher defence management as per the recommendations of the Naresh Chandra Committee report. There is also a need for greater mutual cooperation on strategic policy making among the key stakeholders within Government and the military.

Vice Admiral (Retd) Kaushiva highlighted the close cooperation that existed between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Navy in the 1960s. The cooperation centred on ‘foreign cruises’ for young trainees and naval cadets to countries including Malaysia and Sri Lanka. This aspect of naval diplomacy helped improve mutual understanding between nations and their navies. In the past, many great powers including the U.K., China, several Arab countries and the United States have exploited their sea faring tradition to traverse the Indian Ocean. In the 20th century, the U.S. filled the vacuum left by the withdrawal of the British Navy to the east of Suez Canal. In the 21st century, the maritime scenario in the IOR is being shaped by the rise of China, a resurgent Japan and the U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific. The Indian navy has emerged as a balanced maritime force despite an uneven growth trajectory and has garnered progressively significant capabilities for power projection in the IOR and beyond.