Dr Mohit Nayal - Security of Indias Ports, Coast and Maritime Trade: Challenges in the 21st Century

DR MOHIT NAYAL

Vij Books India Pvt Ltd

(Publishers, Distributors & Importers)

2/19, Ansari Road

Delhi 110 002

Phones: 91-11-43596460, 91-11-47340674

Mob: 98110 94883

e-mail:

web : www.vijbooks.in

Copyright 2021, Dr Mohit Nayal

ISBN: 978-93-90917-10-5 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-93-90917-11-2 (ebook)

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Application for such permission should be addressed to the publisher.

The views expressed in this book are of the author in his personal capacity.

Under the current world order, getting acknowledged as a global power amongst other states is complicated for any nation, but it is further challenging to restore this influential position with transparency and credibility. India aspires for the above objectives. In this regard, the economic capacity matched with capability is the backbone of a nations strength. With the geostrategic advantage of its location in the Indian Ocean Region, through which a substantial global volumetric load of cargo traffic transacts, a coastline of 7,500 kilometres with various ports is advantageous. The increased maritime coastal trade activities will make India a strong blue economy with global outreach. In accordance, the Government of India has taken various initiatives like Sagarmala, Sagar and Mausam for supporting economic activities within the country and the region.

However, all such economic initiatives require safety and security. Over the years, the non-conventional security threats have increased within the region and nearer to Indias sovereign territory. Therefore, the security of Indias ports and the coastal region becomes essential. Further, the security within the territorial waters with islands, offshore assets also becomes essential. Accordingly, this books primary objective is to cover all the aspects of Indias ports, coast and maritime security for its economic prosperity in the 21st century. The introductory part of the book covers the economic potentiality of the IOR and India. However, it is imperative to mention that port-led developments economic aspects are not the books focal point. Instead, non-conventional security challenges are the main focus of this work. Therefore, the global economic slowdown in 2020, due to the pandemic situation leading to an adverse impact on the sea trade activities was not covered. Even the latest strained relations between India and China, not favouring trade activities, were purposely not added in the content. As per the economic reviews available through various credible international and national economic institutes, the coming months of 2021 will soon bring speedy economic recovery. The government of India also firmly stands by such claims. Irrespective of the coastal economic situational swings in the immediate future, the non-conventional security imperatives for Indias ports and coastal region will remain relevant. Thus, the focus on non-conventional port and coastal security has been maintained.

It has been nearly three years of consistent research, interaction with the practitioners, academicians, scholars, and government agencies across various parts of India, which has helped shape the book in its present form. Apart from various government and non-government agencies, there were many private stakeholders in the coastal security dynamics whose viewpoint and concerns have been incorporated in various chapters of the book. Travelling along the vast fronts of Indias coastal region added the optimism that the past few years development activities have instilled hope of economic prosperity and safety amongst the local coastal population.

Personally, this period devoted to writing this book has been one of the most wonderful experiences. I am sincerely grateful to many people who have given their candid views and advises, leading to content enrichment. There is indeed a long list of people I need to thank. Without their support, this book would be incomplete. Some of them would still prefer to maintain discretion due to the nature of their jobs, and therefore, I will avoid placing their names on record and even the others for uniformity. However, the exception to the rule will be Mr Ram Chander (Spring View Villa) without whose unwavering support this opportunity would not have come my way at all. I am always indebted to my parents for their support and affection, my wife Smita, who lovingly stands watch on me during all turbulent times and my teenage son Abhi, a silent admirer.