ABSTRACT
The Indian Ocean is the only ocean that is named after a country, where historically India has played a vital role. The ocean offers opportunities and also acts as a medium of seaborne threats by both state and non-state actors. The superpower competition of the Cold War era is being replaced by the growing competition between the two rising powers – India and China. The menace of piracy and armed robberies in the East Indian Ocean have waxed and waned but persist even today. Piracy in its virulent form in the western Indian Ocean region is of more recent origin. It became so dangerous and threatening to both the local and global peace that in 2008 the United Nation (UN) Security Council passed a resolution authorizing international naval forces to carry out anti-piracy measures off Somalia’s coast. Maritime terrorism is of relatively recent origin but proving to be deadlier and that much more difficult to counter.
