m m m National Maritime aritime aritime aritime Foundation P P P maritime ER ER ER SP SP SP PERSPECTIVES EC EC EC TIVES TIVES TIVES 2018 Edited by 2018 VICE ADMIRAL PRADEEP CHAUHAN CAPTAIN (DR.) GURPREET S KHURANA Edited by C V I A C P E T A A D I N M ( I D R R A .) L G P R U A R D P E R E E P E T C S H A Rs. 600.00 K U H H U A ISBN 978-81-932998-6-9 R N A National N Maritime A Foundation Varuna Complex, Airport Road, NH-48, New Delhi-110 010 9 788193 299869 Edited by Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan Captain (Dr.) Gurpreet S Khurana MARITIME PERSPECTIVES 2018 Edited by Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan and Captain (Dr.) Gurpreet S Khurana First Published in 2019 Copyright © National Maritime Foundation Fully referenced versions of the essays are available at NMF website www.maritimeindia.org ISBN: 978-81-932998-6-9 Rs. 600.00 The editors acknowledge the contributions of Ms. Richa Klair, Research Support Associate NMF for compiling the essays and of NMF Research Interns Ms. Arushi Painuly, Mr. Mohit Kumar and Mr. Abhijeet Nagpal for copy editing the volume. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the editors and the publisher. The views expressed in this volume are of the individual contributors and do not represent the official policy or position of the National Maritime Foundation, the Indian Navy, or the Government of India. Published by: NatiONAL MARITIME FOUndatiON Varuna Complex, Airport Road, NH-8, New Delhi-110 010 Printed by: Alpha Graphics 6A/1, Ganga Chambers, W.E.A., Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110005 Mobile : 9312430311 Email : [email protected] Foreword A review of geo-political trends in recent years clearly indicates that the year 2018 has been an especially momentous one, particularly in respect of India’s pursuit of her maritime interests within the ‘Indo-Pacific’. Notably, the first formal articulation, at India’s apex-political level, of the country’s concept of the ‘Indo-Pacific’, was unequivocally made by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the 2018-edition of the Shangri La Dialogue, held in Singapore in June of this year, when he explained that it extended “…from the shores of Africa to that of the Americas”, in the process, defining India’s strategic geography in this part of the world. The year that has only just gone by also witnessed substantive strides — by a variety of ministries, departments and agencies of the Government of India and a number of private, non-governmental structures as well — towards providing form and substance to both, the Government’s ‘Act East’ Policy and the Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region). As a consequence, substantial progress has been made in realising India’s enormous potential as a major maritime power, as also in progressing India’s transition to a Blue Economy. Against this busy maritime backdrop, I am delighted to note that the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) continues to persevere with its excellent practice — initiated four years ago — of collating and compiling its annual web-publications into an edited-book that can be perused and savoured at each reader’s personal convenience. This year’s compilation of ‘Issue Briefs’ and ‘Commentaries’ on topical strategic, and operational issues that bear upon the maritime domain provides an attractive albeit kaleidoscopic sprinkling of contemporary developments within the Indo- Pacific. The essays amply indicate that India’s economic, security and geopolitical environment remains in a state of dynamic flux, posing multifarious challenges for national policymaking, but simultaneously providing numerous opportunities for India to further advance its cooperative and collaborative maritime endeavours with its immediate, extended and strategic maritime- neighbourhood. I am confident that this compilation would help lay-readers and serious scholars alike, in discerning the emerging trends of this region, thereby catalysing and promoting further thoughtful deliberations and policy-relevant analyses. All this would, of course, admirably serve to further the Foundation’s overarching objective to promote maritime awareness among the broader strategic community and public at large. I congratulate the authors of the essays contained in this issue of ‘Maritime Perspectives’ and wish all its readers a happy and healthy 2019 and beyond. Jai Hind! Admiral RK Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM, IN (Retd) Chairman National Maritime Foundation Contents Foreword 5 MARITIME CONCEPTS Revisiting ‘SAGAR’ – India’s Template for Cooperation in the 13 Indian Ocean Region G. Padmaja Remoulding Maritime Culture in the Indian Mind 20 Asma Masood The Focus is on the Indo-Pacific 24 Captain (Dr) Gurpreet S Khurana Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — The Maritime Potential 30 of a Continental Construct Adarsh Vijay Vizhinjam Port: A Maritime-Strategic Capital? 33 Adarsh Vijay MARITIME SECURITY Community-Engaged Maritime Secuirty: Beyond ‘Eyes and Ears’ 43 Commander Himadri Das Lakshadweep Islands: From Fragility to Stability 48 Adarsh Vijay 7 BIMSTEC and Maritime Security: Issues, Imperatives and the Way Ahead 52 Captain (Dr) Gurpreet S Khurana Ten Years after ‘26/11’: A Paradigm Shift in Maritime Security 60 Governance in India? Commander Himadri Das Cyber-Warriors for Cyber-Space: What we can learn from the US Navy 68 Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande (Retd) NAVAL POWER Indian Navy’s ‘Camping’ Expeditions in the Indian Ocean Region 73 Commodore RS Vasan, IN (Retd.) COMCASA – Wind-Vane of Indian Foreign Policy?! 77 Rajesh Soami Japanese Naval Diplomacy in the Indian Ocean: Prospects and Possibilities 81 Seetha Lakshmi Dinesh Iyer Relevance of Aircraft Carriers for India: An Assessment 85 Captain (Dr) Gurpreet S Khurana “Aircraft Carriers: Glug Glug Glug…..”: Really? Significance of Carrier Borne 97 Airpower for India Commander Dinesh Yadav Indian Navy: A Force for Good and a Partner in Peace 102 Rana Divyank Chaudhary 8 CHINA/ EAST ASIA “Comfort” Women and the “Uncomfortable” East Asian Geopolitics 109 Shahana Thankachan China’s Growing Influence in Africa: Lessons for India 116 Jyotishman Bhagawati Five Years of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) : Revisiting BRI 124 in tandem with the Malacca Dilemma Noor Bhatnagar Another Chinese Takeover in the Indian Ocean Region? 133 Rajesh Soami Political Crisis in Sri Lanka: China and the Maritime Dimension 137 Dr. Jabin T. Jacob MARITIME LAW China’s approach to the Freedom of Navigation: No-Sail Zones 147 Jayesh Mathur India and the Protection of its Overseas Nationals 153 Himanil Raina Legal Aspects of the 25th November, 2018 Kerch Strait Incident 161 Himanil Raina Employment of Unmanned Maritime Systems in the Indo-Pacific: 170 Legal Implications and the Way Ahead Suriya Narayanan China and the South China Sea Arbitration: Analyses in the 174 Indo-Pacific Context Hamsa Devineni and Captain (Dr) Gurpreet S Khurana 9 SOUTH EAST ASIA India and Indonesia: Converging Maritime Interests in the 185 Confluence of the Oceans Surbhi Moudgil India and Myanmar: Prospects of Maritime Reciprocity 193 Adarsh Vijay 25 Years of India - ASEAN Economic Cooperation 198 Anjelina Patrick India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Prospects 202 Surbhi Moudgil Maritime Cooperation as a Thrust Area between India and Indonesia 207 Premesha Saha India and Indonesia: Strengthening Maritime Relations 211 Sahima Gupta GEOPOLITICS Trump’s Trade War: A New Threat to the ‘Quad’ 217 Rajesh Soami An Opening for India in the Maldives 221 Rajesh Soami Should India Bail Out Debt-Ridden Maldives? 224 Rajesh Soami The Karachi Attack: Looking Beneath the Surface 228 Maitreyee Shilpa Kishor India again fails in the UN to Condemn Terrorism: 231 A Relapse into an Old Disease Rajesh Soami 10 Maritime Concepts Revisiting ‘SAGAR’ – India’s Template for Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region G. Padmaja * The month of March 2018 marks three Assembly of Mauritius to commemorate years since the Indian Prime Minister the island nation’s Independence Day Narendra Modi first enunciated India’s Interestingly, Modi spoke about SAGAR vision for the Indian Ocean Region that very day, but not in the Mauritius (IOR) commonly known by its acronym National Assembly. He did so on the - SAGAR (Security and Growth for All occasion of the commissioning of the in the Region). In a well thought out Indian built Offshore Patrol Vessel strategic move, Modi first spoke about (OPV) Barracuda in the service of the SAGAR, not in India but in Mauritius. National Coast Guard of Mauritius. Since then, every discourse on India’s This OPV would be used by Mauritius foreign policy, including maritime to police its vast Exclusive Economic policy, necessarily finds a mention of Zone (EEZ) against piracy, smuggling, SAGAR. illegal fishing, drug trafficking and to provide logistical support for search and This issue brief revisits SAGAR and rescue operations. examines its main policy statements. In doing so the essay seeks to understand The OPV MCGS Barracuda was the manner in which these proposals the first ever warship built in India for were breaking new ground. export, based on the specific design requirements of the buyer country, SAGAR – India’s Vision for the Indian which in this case was Mauritius. It was Ocean Region built by India’s defence PSU (Public On 12 March 2015, the Indian Prime Sector Undertaking) Garden Reach Minister Modi addressed the National Ship Builders and Engineers Limited 13 (GRSE) in Kolkata. It symbolised a new of Indian shipping, fishing, seaborne beginning for India’s defence industry trade, energy supply, assets and resources sales; and the ships final destination in the maritime domain and Indian being Mauritius, indicated the island citizens who are working overseas. nation’s geo-strategic importance in the Given the seamless connectivity in Indian Ocean.