Why is maritime security vital to protect India's sea trade? Discuss maritime and coastal security challenges and the way forward.

Maritime and coastal security challenges

Non-traditional and transnational threats

• Maritime terrorism: Gaps in coastal surveillance can be exploited for infiltration and attacks.
  • Example: The 26/11 Mumbai attacks exposed vulnerabilities in India's coastal security architecture.

• Piracy and disruption of SLOCs: Piracy and instability around strategic routes can increase freight, insurance and transit costs, affecting India's trade.
  • Example: The Red Sea crisis forced ships to take longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope.

• Smuggling and narco-terrorism: Maritime routes are used for trafficking narcotics, arms, gold and other contraband, creating a nexus between organised crime and terrorism.

Structural and institutional challenges

• Fragmented security architecture: The Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs and port authorities have overlapping responsibilities, creating coordination and intelligence-sharing challenges.

• Weakness of minor ports and small vessels: Smaller ports and fishing vessels are harder to monitor, creating vulnerabilities for infiltration and smuggling.
  • Example: Tracking thousands of small fishing boats, particularly those below 20 metres, remains a major maritime-domain-awareness challenge.

• Limited Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA): Gaps in radar, vessel tracking, satellite surveillance and real-time intelligence fusion can leave parts of the maritime domain insufficiently monitored.

Socio-economic and environmental challenges

• Fishermen and boundary disputes: Fishermen may inadvertently cross maritime boundaries, leading to arrests and diplomatic tensions.
  • Example: Recurring disputes involving Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait create both livelihood and maritime-security concerns.

• Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing: Unsustainable fishing by domestic or foreign fleets threatens marine resources and can undermine coastal livelihoods.

• Climate-related vulnerabilities: Cyclones, coastal flooding and sea-level rise can damage ports, coastal infrastructure and security installations, complicating continuous maritime surveillance.

Way forward

• Strengthen the three-tier security architecture: Marine Police should focus on near-shore waters, the Indian Coast Guard on coastal and EEZ security, and the Indian Navy on external defence and SLOC protection.

• Expand Maritime Domain Awareness: Complete the coastal radar chain and integrate radar, AIS, satellite imagery, UAVs and vessel-tracking systems for continuous surveillance.

• Strengthen intelligence fusion: Expand the role of the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) for real-time information sharing and coordinated responses.

• Improve inter-agency coordination: Establish seamless coordination among the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Police, Customs, ports and intelligence agencies, supported by regular joint exercises.

• Secure the legal framework: Effectively implement the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022 and strengthen enforcement against piracy, smuggling and other maritime crimes.

• Empower coastal communities: Treat fishermen as the “eyes and ears” of coastal security through community-interaction programmes and local surveillance networks.

• Deepen regional cooperation: Strengthen maritime cooperation through SAGAR, IORA, BIMSTEC, Quad and coordinated patrols (CORPAT) to secure the wider Indian Ocean region.

• Build resilient maritime infrastructure: Develop secure ports, coastal jetties, shipbuilding capacity and modern surveillance infrastructure so that maritime security also supports India's blue economy.