India and China at Sea by David Brewster

Author:David Brewster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: N/A
ISBN: 9780199091683
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2017-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

9

India’s Evolving Maritime Domain Awareness Strategy in the Indian Ocean

Darshana M. Baruah

The Indian Ocean is an area of primary importance to the Indian Navy and instability in the region directly affects India’s security environment. India’s geographic location in the Indian Ocean naturally renders the Indian Navy as one of the key players in the region and an important partner for the Indian Ocean community to keep the area stable and secure. Compared to the Pacific, the Indian Ocean has previously been fairly free of conflicts and geopolitical competition giving India a sense of security in its Indian Ocean role. New Delhi for far too long has been occupied with troubles along its continental border with limited focus on maritime security. The lack of an interest in developing a coherent maritime security strategy in the Indian defence establishment was aided by a relatively favourable maritime environment. The security environment in the Indian Ocean today, however, is quickly changing with a rise in strategic competition. Recent developments have forced New Delhi to take a fresh look at its maritime strategy, particularly under the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This chapter examines enhancing India’s maritime domain awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean as a part of India’s new maritime outlook. It underlines the factors driving this change especially in context of the Sino-Indian relationship. The chapter concludes with a set of recommendations to enhance India’s surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean region improving its domain awareness.

Maritime Domain Awareness in Coastal Waters

A nation’s level of focus on awareness in the maritime domain reflects its threat perceptions and security environment. New Delhi today, is much keener on a stronger MDA than a decade ago. The 2015 Maritime Security Strategy released by the Indian Navy places a great deal of importance on MDA1 which it calls a critical common requirement for maritime security, an essential tool for deterrence and to maintain strategic advantage. The navy described the term as an all-encompassing concept, ‘involves being cognisant of the position and intentions of all actors, whether own, hostile or neutral, and in all dimensions—on, over and under the seas’.2 The document outlines huge resources, manpower, technical analysts, and experts to form a coherent MDA framework. The strategy underlines the need to work with friendly navies to achieve a favourable maritime environment.

Much of India’s concerns leading to a greater focus on MDA in the larger Indian Ocean stems from a changing security environment. However, in order to understand India’s current MDA efforts, it is important to review some of the events that have shaped its current outlook. A defining moment was the terrorist attacks on 26 November 2008, commonly known as ‘26/11’. The attack though carried out by non-state actors, was conceptualized and originated in Pakistan. A group of men hijacked an Indian fishing vessel and sailed to the coast of Mumbai, India’s financial hub. These attacks brought forward a number of issues in India’s coastal defence strategy. First, it was clear that India has massive gaps in its coastal surveillance and intelligence capabilities.

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