ABSTRACT
Maritime security is a broad and vague area, though it could be defined as the security dealing with the prevention of illicit activities in the maritime domain. Indian Ocean has become multifaceted and dynamic. Indian Ocean regional maritime security has become a key factor as the Indian Ocean Region transitions from an international backwater, a mere route for maritime trade, to a major global nexus of resource, human, economic and environmental issues. The Indian Ocean Region contains a large proportion of the world’s failed and failing states, including 11 of the 20 states listed in Foreign Policy Journal ’s 2009 article ‘The Failed State Index’. 2 The non-traditional threats to security comprise threat of non-state actors. The trafficking of narcotics, weapons and people continues to be a great concern. The likelihood of terrorist attack has become a major concern. Although terrorist attacks on shipping remain relatively low, the threat of terrorism must be viewed as credible. Any major attack can easily disrupt global economy. Maritime security concerns in the Indian Ocean continue to be dominated by piracy and armed robbery at sea, especially hijacking of merchant vessels. Therefore, maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region is an apt model of Buzan and Weaver’s ‘regional security complex’, that is, a group of states united by common security problems of the region. 3
Geographically, the Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean in the world, covering 68.556 million sq. km or 20 per cent of the earth’s water surface. 4 Broadly, it has been bounded by India in its north; Africa in its west; Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, Malaysia
and Australia in its east; and Antarctica in its south. The Indian Ocean also embraces many seas like Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, the Gulf of Mannar and the Gulf of Oman. The major ports in the Indian Ocean are Chennai, Colombo, Durban, Jakarta, Kolkata, Melbourne, Mumbai and Richards Bay. 5 There are several choke points in the Indian Ocean such as the Mozambique Channel, the Bab-elMandeb, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, the Malacca Strait and the Lombok Strait. 6 According to Michel and Sticklor, 38 states have influence over the Indian Ocean Region. Some of the 38 states are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. France and United Kingdom are also included because of their island territories. 7 These countries draw 40 per cent of the world’s total coastlines. In 2010, the population of Indian Ocean Region comprises almost onethird, that is 35.70 per cent, of the world’s total population while the average Human Development Index of this region is only 0.597 in comparison to the world average of 0.682. Looking at the brief history of the Indian Ocean, one can say that the Indian Ocean has been a significant route, making it accessible for traders from the worldwide. The western Indian Ocean was dominated by the Persians from the third century to the seventh century while the Arabs dominated the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean from seventh century to the fourteenth century. The Arabs occupied the coastline of East Africa, the north-western coastline of India and Southeast Asia. Rais is of the view that the neglect of the naval strategy by the Arabs led European traders to enter the Indian Ocean. 8
The Portuguese came with the aim to monopolize over the Asian trade, especially in spices. The Portuguese occupied Colombo, Socotra, Goa and Melaka, but by the end of the sixteenth century, the Dutch started occupying most of the Portuguese domains. The Dutch formed the United East India Company in 1602 to promote the eastern trade. It is said that Spain’s occupation of Portugal in 1580 and religious intolerance and lack of commercial associations in Portugal led to weaken Portugal, while newly discovered Brazil diverted its focus from the Indian Ocean. Because of the lack of resources, the Dutch failed in effectively controlling the region. The war with England and alteration in Dutch colonial policies led Dutch to lose their domination to the British and the French in the seventeenth century. The English established the East India Company in 1601, while the French East India Company was established in 1604. The Indian Ocean has been called ‘British Lake’. 9
By the end of the Second World War, almost all the countries of Indian Ocean area got independence from the colonial domination. However, following the Cold War between the two superpowers, the United States and the USSR, the Indian Ocean occupied centre stage in the foreign policies of the super power because of their strategic and economic interest in the region. Chomsky argued that the United States is interested in the region because of its oil reserves. However, the Cold War reached the Indian Ocean in the 1960s and 1970s. Both the United States and the USSR tried to install their naval bases and submarines in the Indian Ocean. The United Nations declared the Indian Ocean as the zone of peace in 1971. Bouchard and Crumplin argued that the India-Pakistan war of 1971, Israel-Palestine war of 1973, Gulf oil crisis in 1973 and 1979, the Indian nuclear test in 1974, the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet and the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s gave Indian Ocean a geostrategic importance. After the end of Cold War, the United States intervened in Iraq-Kuwait war in 1991. The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the military intervention in Iraq in 2003 brought instability to the region. The war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1983 to 2009 also brought turmoil to the region. It is argued that India is a great power in the Indian Ocean Region while China is also gradually proving its presence in the region. 10
Maritime rights of the nations are enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but these rights are sometimes in conflict with their strategic interests. The Indian Ocean Region has now turned into a multidimensional and dynamic region; however, it was neglected for a long time. Venkatshamy is of the view that Indian Ocean has an increasingly important role to play in the geopolitics in the coming times. Forty-eight out of 63 ports in Asia are located in the Indian Ocean Region. By 2013, it has become the pivot of trade and energy as the region has 61 per cent of total global container traffic besides 70 per cent of the petroleum products transportation. 11 The Malacca Strait is the major shipping route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, connecting Asia, Middle East and Europe. The 550-mile strait is a vital choke point in the Indian Ocean as more than 50,000 merchant ships travel by the waterways every year. 12 ‘If Straits get blocked, almost half of the world’s fleet would need to reroute through the Sunda or Lombok Straits.’ 13 The strategic importance of the Indian Ocean Region has made many extra-regional
states to keep a naval presence in the Indian Ocean. 14 It is said that most of the armed conflicts are located in the Indian Ocean Region. According to Venkatshamy, 45 per cent of the world’s conflicts (such as Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan) and 75 per cent of the world natural disasters occur in the Indian Ocean Region. 15
The region is said to be very rich in the natural resources like gold, tin, uranium, cobalt, nickel, aluminium and cadmium. It is estimated that the region contains almost 55 per cent of recognized oil reserves and around 40 per cent of gas reserves. According to Berlin, in 2011, 40 per cent of trade in oil transports passed through the Strait of Hormuz, 35 per cent through the Strait of Malacca and 8 per cent through Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Most of the energy exports from the five major world oil producers pass the narrow route of the Indian Ocean. 16 It is argued that the growing interest of the Gulf Cooperation countries in the Indian Ocean is because of the gradual increase in the consumption of energy by India and China. It is argued that countries like the United States, China, India and Japan are increasingly depending on energy supplied by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, making Indian Ocean Region more and more important in the coming decades or rather century. 17
Besides its economic importance, Indian Ocean Region also has military significance. The island of Diego Garcia has been a major airnaval base of the United States in the Indian Ocean. The United States has also installed some major naval task forces such as Combined Task Force 152 and Combined Task Force 150, while France has its naval bases installed in Djibouti, Reunion and Abu Dhabi. China has commercial ports at Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan. Port construction by the Chinese is also under way in Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is argued that Marao Atoll in Maldives is among potential Chinese military bases.
