Revision summary
Maritime security covers terror from the sea, piracy, smuggling, IUU fishing, and extra-regional presence on energy and trade lanes. 26/11 showed the gap between Navy blue water and unpoliced creeks. Organisation: Navy, Coast Guard, marine police, NCSMCS, IMAC and IFC-IOR, plus the Andaman and Nicobar Command. Technical: coastal radars, AIS, aircraft, UAVs, harbour sensors, and boat-crew identity. Procedural: joint SOPs, Sagar Kavach exercises, fisherman networks, and ISPS port security.
Model answer
Introduction
India’s security does not stop at the beach. Maritime security covers the coastline, exclusive economic zone, sea lanes, ports and offshore assets against terror from the sea, piracy, smuggling, illegal fishing, and grey-zone presence of extra-regional navies. After 26/11, the Union rebuilt coastal architecture in three layers: who commands, what sensors see, and how a craft is boarded.
Body
Challenges
- Terror from the sea: small craft infiltration (Mumbai 26 November 2008 remains the teaching case).
- Piracy and armed robbery in the western Indian Ocean and, at times, closer approaches; Indian seafarers on foreign-flag ships are exposed.
- Smuggling: narcotics, arms, gold, and people on dhows and fishing boats.
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; depletion and foreign trawlers in the EEZ.
- Grey-zone naval presence, research vessels, and extra-regional bases that sit on India’s sea lanes of communication (energy from the Gulf, trade through Malacca).
- Offshore oil, undersea cables and island territories (Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep) as targets or intelligence platforms.
- Cyclone and climate damage to coastal infrastructure is a security-of-supply issue, not only a disaster issue.
Organisational initiatives
- Indian Navy as the principal maritime force; Indian Coast Guard for EEZ and pollution; marine police in coastal States after 26/11.
- National Committee for Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS) and joint operations centres; Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) and the later Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram for sharing white-shipping data.
- Andaman and Nicobar Command as a tri-service watch on the eastern approaches.
- Customs, NCB and State police in a coastal security scheme; Sagar Prahari Bal-type specialised units in the Navy for force protection.
Technical initiatives
- Coastal radar chain, Automatic Identification System (AIS), National AIS network, and Vessel Traffic Services at ports.
- Satellite and UAV surveillance; Navy and Coast Guard aircraft and ships for EEZ patrol.
- Biometric / identity for fishermen and boat registration so a terrorist craft is harder to hide in the fishing fleet.
- Harbour defence: barriers, patrol boats, and underwater sensors at sensitive ports.
Procedural initiatives
- Standard operating procedures for Navy–Coast Guard–marine police hot pursuit and boarding.
- Community policing of fishermen as the first sensor; joint exercises such as Sagar Kavach.
- International: information sharing through IFC-IOR, coordinated patrols with neighbours, and Indian Ocean naval symposium-type diplomacy.
- Port security under ISPSI (International Ship and Port Facility Security) Code after 9/11, implemented in Indian major ports.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[Maritime challenges] --> T[Terror smuggling piracy] C --> E[EEZ fishing SLOCs] O[Navy Coast Guard marine police] --> R[Response] S[Radar AIS IMAC IFC-IOR] --> R P[SOPs Sagar Kavach boat ID] --> R
Conclusion
India’s maritime challenge is terror craft, crime, illegal fishing and contested sea lanes. The reply is a Navy–Coast Guard–police command chain, radars and AIS, and boarding SOPs that treat the fisherman as a sensor. 26/11 forced that architecture; IFC-IOR extends it across the ocean.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Economic growth in the recent past has been led by increase in labour activity." Explain this statement. Suggest the growth pattern that will lead to creation of more jobs without compromising labour productivity.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2022 · Q11). View answer →
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Is the Navy enough for coastal security?
No. Creeks and fishing harbours need Coast Guard and marine police. The Navy cannot sit in every creek.
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What is white shipping?
Commercial vessel movement data (AIS and similar). Sharing it through IFC-IOR helps spot the vessel that is dark or lying.
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