As the Vishnu Purāna mentions “India is a country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains, called Bhāratam, there dwells the descendants of Bharata”. The culture from the ancient land of Bharat spread across Southeast Asian, African and East Asian countries through the Indian Ocean. India's history, art, mythology, and literature are replete with references to that ocean and its importance for the Indian people. The article focuses on how India's maritime security framework in the Indian Ocean significantly shapes regional and global dynamics.
VIVEK KUMAR MISHRA
Maritime security has been at the core of recent research studies that gained traction in the aftermath of oil spill accidents and rising international terrorism. Maritime security constitutes one of the current buzzwords in International Relations. It pertains to every security issue within the marine realm (sea, oceans, littorals, etc.). Major players have begun incorporating maritime security into their policy architectures, redefining their operations, and attempting to adapt to the changing dynamics of trade and warfare. Maritime security is a word that attracts attention to new concerns and mobilises support to address them. However, achieving consensus on what comprises maritime security is a challenging task, as there is a constant risk of political disagreements. Maritime security relates to the emerging challenges in the domain of the marine environment. With the growth of international terrorism, growing disputes between nation-states, the challenge of piracy, trafficking, and illicit trade, along with the environmental issues affecting the littoral states, due to such non-military security challenges, the maritime arena is more than ever a theatre of power politics. Bueger highlights that maritime security can be conceptualised primarily by using a matrix associated with other core concepts like the emerging blue economy, safety and security issues, and the evolution of sea power, among others. (Bueger Christian. (2015), What is Marine Security, Marine Policy, 53:159)
