Indian Coastline

Complex and amorphous threats confront India’s security environment in its maritime East. India has very high stakes in the Bay of Bengal and its adjoining seas. The confluence of vital sea lines makes this region one of great strategic relevance to other powers as well. This translates into both challenges and opportunities for India. The Andaman & Nicobar archipelago had long been perceived as India’s key vulnerability due to its remote location and a history of some of its islands ‘slipping away’ from the Indian dominion. Such wariness may be unfounded in the present times.

• Gurpreet S Khurana
• January 2006
• Strategic Analysis

The post-Cold War period has witnessed significant maritime developments. The intensification of trade-linked development and the entry into force of the Laws of the Seas in 1994 led to state interests being increasingly identified with freedom of navigation and ocean resources, thus making maritime issues a major subset of national security. Events leading to 9/11 saw the addition of an amorphous dimension to existing threats, expanding the ambit of maritime security.

• Gurpreet S Khurana
• July 2004
• Strategic Analysis