Maritime Security Threats in the Indian Ocean:How Prepared is the Indian Navy

Abstract

Throughout history, the Indian Ocean had remained the pivot of international relations. Following the end of the Cold War, a paradigmatic shift has taken place with the astonishing economic growth of China and India. To sustain the growth rate of the major economies such as China and India and other regional countries, incessant supply of energy has become the dire requirement of the region. But in recent years, maritime threats have been growing exponentially. This perception has been heightened by incidents like 26/11 which took place via sea route. The maritime threats like sea piracy, narco trafficking, gun trafficking and maritime terrorism, particularly after the Mumbai attacks, have created maritime security challenges for the Indian Navy. The focus of this paper is to find out how the Indian Navy is preparing itself to cope with these maritime security challenges.