The Hindu : National : One-dimensional approach to maritime security opposed

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One-dimensional approach to maritime security opposed

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Friday said the initiative to foster a sense of collective security on the high seas attended to only one aspect of the matter. He was addressing an international symposium attended by Chiefs of Naval Staff of 27 Indian Ocean rim countries.

There were actual and potential threats of varying intensity from non-state actors, he said, but the argument of securing maritime traffic or lessening the vulnerability of sea-lanes of communication (SLOC) had also been used as a rationale to build up naval capabilities, “giving rise to questions about intentions.”

He felt the SLOC argument was reflective of partial reality. Any discussion of the ocean must be multi-dimensional and reflective of four aspects: the security paradigm, disaster management, oceanic resources and environmental questions.

“Solutions too should be comprehensive and balanced rather than slanted in favour of one aspect, however weighty. In the past, initiatives for maritime security generally emanated from a strong power driven principally by hegemonic perceptions.”

He wanted maritime security to be considered at three levels: creating transparency (including advance notice of exercises and of ship movements), building confidence (through joint exercises, naval hydrographic operations, policing and agreement on avoidance of incidents at high sea) and building security (by interaction among stakeholders to discuss matters of concern and taking up initiatives for regional maritime security mechanisms).

Mr. Ansari pointed out the divergence in pursuing security at eastern and western chokepoints in the Indian Ocean. The presence at western chokepoint was predominantly extra-regional (with just three Indian Ocean rim countries involved) and gave the impression of being hegemonic. The effort at eastern chokepoint involved the littoral and user-states and focussed on cooperation. “This gathering would, undoubtedly, make its own judgments,” he said.

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