Captain Gurpreet S Captain Khurana has rendered a most valuable service to the maritime community by compiling this Porthole Khurana is a serving lexicon of geopolitical, strategic and maritime terms and concepts and providing easily understood The closer you look', the wider you 'see' Indian Navy officer with 27 interpretations. This valuable glossary should help de-mystify arcane terminology, contribute to P years of commissioned standardization and come as a boon; not just for young students and researchers, but equally for Geopolitic For a mariner, the 'porthole' of a ship is the seasoned mariners, analysts, and scholars. service, and a PhD in O view, not only to the port, but also to the Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd) Defence Studies. A missile wider world. The title of the book implies Former Chief of Indian Navy al specialist and ship's diver, , that a yearning in any person to have a S R he has participated in all major naval tra closer look at geopolitical, strategic and At a time when India is re-discovering its maritime roots and initiating strategic engagement with the t operations since IPKF operations (1987-90) egic maritime issues and developments leads to Oceans, Capt. Gurpreet Khurana has produced a timely and lucid Compendium of maritime terms and T and has held the command of two warships, concepts. Navigating like a seasoned mariner between a host of geo-political, strategic and maritime and a more 'encompassing' perspective, and including the commissioning command of a domains, he de-mystifies for the lay reader the important terms and concepts frequently used by the thus a better understanding and Maritime H Fast Attack Craft at the Andaman and Nicobar maritime strategic community. As a concise work, 'Porthole' will be of great help to budding scholars of assimilation of realities concerning strategic studies. command (2002). international affairs. Dr. Arvind Gupta O T Deputy National Security Adviser, Government of India erms During his Research Fellowship at the IDSA The nautical chart in the porthole (2003-8), he authored the book titled Maritime and represents the prevailing geopolitical The 'Porthole' provides excellent insights to maritime terms of reference. It will be a welcome addition to L Forces in Pursuit of National Security (2008). He C the clutter on many study tables as an indispensable companion to the Dictionary and Thesaurus ! BZ !! oncepts (including geo-economic) issues in the was commended by the Chief of Naval Staff for Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva (Retd.) E predominantly maritime-configured 'Indo- reviewing and editing the Indian Maritime Former Commandant, National Defence College Pacific' region, shaped by the strategic Doctrine, 2009 (INBR-8). He also compiled the imperatives of the stakeholders in the Navy's Handbook on the Law of Maritime It is customary to find lexicons of seagoing and seamanship terms, which have contributed greatly into region. The fragmented background Operations, 2013 (INBR-1652). spoken and idiomatic English. Such a lexicon is useful for a new recruit contemplating a seagoing career or r e p r e s e n t s t h e c o m p l e x i t i e s o f a career to do with boats and sailing. It is unusual to come across a lexicon of geo-political, strategic and G PORTHOLE international relations and the existing maritime terms. Gurpreet has written a most relevant book 'Porthole' that will ease much of the confusion He represents India at the Search and Rescue u voids in 'still-evolving' international law. regarding the meaning of words written by maritime analysts. A book of this nature is long overdue. Geopolitical, Strategic and Maritime Terms and Concepts (SAR) Working Group of the Council for Security r Rear Admiral Raja Menon (Retd.) p Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). He is r Chairman, Task force on Net Assessment & Simulation, National Security Council The cover also depicts symbols of maritime currently the Executive Director at National e power and nautical usage representing the e Maritime Foundation, New Delhi. t salience of the seas for the regional Whilst India has had a rich maritime heritage and traditions, the general awareness of 'matters maritime' S Gurpreet S Khurana has seen wider acceptance only in the more recent times. As such, the publication of ‘Porthole’ is indeed countries to meet their overarching very timely, and will stand us in good stead as we acquire the self-confidence to understand and articulate K national objectives. The sea could be a maritime strategic concepts. My compliments to the author for this stellar effort. h source of natural resources, a medium for u Admiral Sureesh Mehta (Retd) r communications and access to resources, Former Chief of Indian Navy and High Commissioner of India to New Zealand a n a n d a n e n a b l e r o f m u l t i f a r i o u s a international engagements. Rs. 795/- ISBN 978-81-8274-863-7 www.pentagonpress.in 9 788182 748637 PORTHOLE GEOPOLITICAL, STRATEGIC AND MARITIME TERMS AND CONCEPTS The closer you ‘look’, the wider you ‘see’ PORTHOLE GEOPOLITICAL, STRATEGIC AND MARITIME TERMS AND CONCEPTS Gurpreet S Khurana PENTAGON PRESS PORTHOLE: Geopolitical, Strategic and Maritime Terms and Concepts Gurpreet S Khurana First Published in 2016 Copyright © National Maritime Foundation ISBN 978-81-8274-863-7 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the NMF. Comments and suggestions will be valuable for revised editions in the future, and may be sent to the author at [email protected] Disclaimer 1. Towards the aim of simplifying the text contained in official documents, the author has made an attempt to interpret it in a simplified manner that best represents the ‘spirit’ of the original document. However, such interpretation may not comprehensively address the details of the concerned subject, for which, the original documents need to be consulted. 2. The views expressed in this publication are the author’s own, and do not represent those of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), the Indian Navy or the Government of India. Published by PENTAGON PRESS 206, Peacock Lane, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049 Phones: 011-64706243, 26491568 Telefax: 011-26490600 email: [email protected] website: www.pentagonpress.in Branch: Flat No.213, Athena-2, Clover Acropolis, Viman Nagar, Pune-411014 Email: [email protected] Printed at Avantika Printers Private Limited. FOREWORD The vision to establish the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) in 2005 as the premier national maritime think-tank was premised on the need to provide a common platform for deliberations among various seagoing agencies and the academia, and generate awareness in India of ‘matters maritime’. An attendant aim was to address the dynamics of international relations and related strategic developments that are closely enmeshed with the affairs of the sea. The NMF caters for a number of stakeholders including several government ministries, the strategic community, the Indian Navy and other maritime forces, the merchant marine, the oil and gas industry, and educational institutions. The task to bridge the diverse spectrum of strategic analyses and maritime activity in conceptual terms is indeed challenging. It requires evolving a synergy among the policy-makers, the various implementing authorities and the users of the sea. For the endeavour to succeed, the foremost imperative lies in bringing all concerned to a common conceptual platform. Towards this end, I am confident that Captain Khurana’s effort to compile the essentials of geopolitical, strategic and maritime terms and concepts would be helpful to achieve a conceptual unison and resonance on issues pertaining to international relations, national strategy, and maritime and naval affairs. Admiral DK Joshi PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.) Chairman, National Maritime Foundation Former Chief of the Naval Staff PREFACE The prerequisite for academic and strategic analyses and articulation—both oral and through publishing—is ‘communication’. The essence lies in the ability of an analyst to be understood by the ‘audience’. The commonality of English language—or any other language—is not adequate. A particular term, along with the conceptual and contextual underpinning of its usage must be fully comprehended by the ‘target audience’. This rationale is best exemplified by a military doctrine, whose key aim inter alia is to elucidate the operational terminology to enable the uniformed personnel at all levels of the chain of command to share a common conceptual platform, so that when the higher commander gives a directive using such terminology, it raises the same thought among all subordinates as that of the commander, and mirrors the commander’s intent to achieve the military objective. As a compendium, Porthole is a nascent endeavour to standardise the geopolitical, strategic, military-strategic and other maritime-related concepts and terms to facilitate effective communication within the strategic and academic community, and their onward communication with their larger audiences comprising inter alia the policy-makers, the practitioners, the media, the enlightened citizens and the broader world. I hope that it would also address the needs of young professionals of the sea-going services, and initiate them into the multifarious issues of the ‘wider’ maritime world that are so closely intertwined. Porthole is inspired by the Indian Maritime Doctrine, 2009, which is primarily meant as a doctrinal guidance for naval practitioners and the government policy-makers who are functionally connected to ‘matters- military’. In comparison, Porthole addresses the broader context, thereby also viii GEOPOLITICAL, STRATEGIC AND MARITIME TERMS AND CONCEPTS encompassing the civilian aspects of maritime activity, and the closely connected aspects of international relations.