Exploring India's Maritime Connectivity in the Extended Bay of Bengal
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Exploring India’s Maritime Connectivity in the Extended Bay of Bengal Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury Pratnashree Basu Sohini Bose Exploring India’s Maritime Connectivity in the Extended Bay of Bengal Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury Pratnashree Basu Sohini Bose © 2019 Observer Research Foundation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from ORF. Attribution: Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Pratnashree Basu, Sohini Bose, “Exploring India’s Maritime Connectivity in the Extended Bay of Bengal”, November 2019, Observer Research Foundation. Observer Research Foundation 20 Rouse Avenue, Institutional Area New Delhi, India 110002 [email protected] www.orfonline.org ORF provides non-partisan, independent analyses on matters of security, strategy, economy, development, energy and global governance to diverse decision-makers including governments, business communities, academia and civil society. ORF’s mandate is to conduct in-depth research, provide inclusive platforms, and invest in tomorrow’s thought leaders today. On the cover: A screen grab from a live global monitoring site for container cargo ships. Source: “The satellite ship map”, Visualisation of Global Shipping, https://www.shipmap.org/. Design and Layout: simijaisondesigns ISBN: 978-93-89622-15-7 ISBN Digital: 978-93-89622-16-4 CONTENTS About the Authors ................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Preface ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 List of Tables, Maps and Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12 The Bay of Bengal in Context ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 From Backwater to Geostrategic Maritime space ................................................................................................................. 12 Review of Literature ................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Structure of the Monograph .............................................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1: Maritime Logistics and Commerce ............................................................................................................. 18 Logistics: Bedrock of Connectivity ................................................................................................................................................. 19 Trade Connectivity ................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Indicators for India ................................................................................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 2: Taming the Tempestuous Bay ..................................................................................................................... 40 Geographic Proximity and Shared Vulnerability .................................................................................................................... 41 Recent Natural Calamities .................................................................................................................................................................. 42 India as HADR Provider ....................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Building Bridges across the Bay ...................................................................................................................................................... 44 Andaman and Nicobar Islands: A Point of First Response? ............................................................................................ 47 Multilateral Partnership: ASEAN Linkages................................................................................................................................. 49 India’s Role as an ASEAN Partner ................................................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 3: Stepping into the Indo-Pacific: Strategic Scenario in the Bay of Bengal .................................... 58 Interpreting the ‘Indo-Pacific’ Paradigm ................................................................................................................................... 59 India’s Initiatives in the Indo-Pacific ............................................................................................................................................. 59 Perceptions of Indo-Pacific: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia ........................................................... 61 China’s Assertive Rise ............................................................................................................................................................................. 65 India’s Role in Maintaining Freedom of Navigation in the IOR ..................................................................................... 66 BIMSTEC: Connecting the Bay .......................................................................................................................................................... 67 Moving beyond Malacca: Strengthening Ties with ASEAN ............................................................................................ 68 The Andaman Sea: India’s ‘Geostrategic Gateway’ ............................................................................................................... 69 Measures to Enhance Security ......................................................................................................................................................... 70 Endeavours to Expand Strategic Outreach ............................................................................................................................... 71 Conclusion: Towards a Connected Future ..................................................................................................................... 76 Option for ‘BIMSTEC Plus’ .................................................................................................................................................................... 76 Annexure ................................................................................................................................................................................... 80 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................................................. 87 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Ph.D, is Senior Fellow with the Neighbourhood Initiative of Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata chapter. She is the coordinator of the research project, ‘Proximity to Connectivity’. She specialises in South Asia, refugees, forced migration, and women in conflict zones. She is the recipient of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust Senior Media Fellowship (2007), and the Kodikara Award from the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo in 1998-99. Anasua was also ICSSR Post-Doctoral Fellow (2004-06) at the Centre for the Studies of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, and a Visiting Fellow at The Maison des Sciences de I’Homme, Paris. Her recent publications include Connecting Nations: India and Southeast Asia (co-edited, 2019), State of Being Stateless (co-edited, 2015); Women in Indian Borderlands (co-edited, 2011). Pratnashree Basu is an Associate Fellow with ORF’s Strategic Studies Initiative and Maritime Initiative and works on maritime politics in the Indo-Pacific. She is a doctoral candidate at the Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University and a 2017 US Department of State IVLP Fellow. She has previously worked as Associate Editor and Coordinator of the South China Sea Monitor, China Weekly and South Asia Weekly — ORF’s bulletins collating the key issues and developments in the respective regions. Sohini Bose is a Junior Fellow at ORF Kolkata. Her research