ABSTRACT
The Indian Ocean is a major link in the global shipping network. Important shipping trades across the Indian Ocean include Round the World container services and oil routes from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to Asia via the Malacca or Lombok Straits and to Europe via the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope. An important area of disagreement relates to the ability of a coastal state to introduce regulations that have the effect of denying freedoms of navigation and over flight in all or part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The freedom of navigation is extremely important in the Indian Ocean due to the strategic and economic importance of shipping using the ocean and the number of major choke points. There is scope for a higher level of naval and maritime cooperation to ensure and enhance the freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean.
