Maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region: The role of the Indian Navy

Authors

Shishir Upadhyaya, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

102857

Publication Details

Upadhyaya, S. (2014). Maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region: The role of the Indian Navy. Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs, 6 (4), 173-190.

Abstract

The changing maritime security scenario in the post-Cold War era is reflected in the transformation of naval doctrines, strategies and force structures evident in several Indian Ocean navies. There is an increasing focus on combating against the common non-traditional threats of the region through naval cooperation. India, as the largest naval power in the region, has a moral responsibility to foster maritime security cooperation in the region and ensure the security of shipping in the Indian Ocean. For India, in order to preserve a favourable balance of power in the Indian Ocean, in the face of a rising China and an adversarial Pakistan, and to maintain good order and peace amidst emerging non-traditional threats of the twenty-first century, it is imperative to maintain an all-round balanced naval capability. The aim of this paper is to define a maritime cooperation strategy for India that would enable India to leverage its naval power in order to meet the challenges of the post-Cold War era.