Coast to coast points person for maritime security comes 14 years after 26 11 challenges from high seas even greater now

Coast to coast points person for maritime security comes 14 years after 26 11 challenges from high seas even greater now

In a welcome but surreally-delayed move, GoI has finally appointed the country’s first National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) to ensure effective coordination among multiple agencies dealing with threats from the high seas. Vice-Admiral (retired) G Ashok Kumar will be the first to occupy the post in the National Security Council Secretariat under NSA Ajit Doval. However, serious questions need to be asked as to why it took 14 long years to create this post after Pakistani terrorists snuck into Mumbai from the sea and killed 166 people during the 26/11 terror attack. Back then the defence ministry had proposed the creation of a maritime security advisory board and the appointment of a maritime security adviser. But bureaucratic sloth and turf wars ensured these were kept pending.

That said, the NMSC’s appointment comes at a critical point in India’s evolving strategic-security environment. Faced with a China-Pakistan axis, New Delhi not only needs to be alert to threats from sea-borne non-state actors, but also keep an eye on Chinese maritime designs in the Indian Ocean Region. After all, China today has the largest navy and a maritime militia force to carry out grey-zone tactics against adversaries. To counter this and protect India’s 7,516-km coastline and 2 million sq km of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a single-point coordinator like the NMSC for all aspects of maritime security was much needed.

Besides, given that the global axis of power is shifting from the West to the East – as acknowledged by the recent US Indo-Pacific strategy paper – the sea lanes around India are going to get busier. And with countries having different interpretations of the treaty on the high seas, UNCLOS, incidents like last year’s American freedom of navigation operation in India’s EEZ could recur. Hence, there is a need for enhanced maritime domain awareness to protect both security and economic interests. Note that 90% of India’s trade, by volume, transits through the seas. The NMSC must lay the blueprint for a truly modern maritime security system.