GOA: At the time China is expanding its maritime envelope of activities, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday impressed upon a free, open and rules-bound maritime order as a priority saying “Might is right” has no place in such a maritime order.
Hinting at another important outcome the Indian Navy Chief also spoke about a common framework for the nations of the Indian Ocean Region.
Delivering the keynote address at the 4th Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC). Rajnath Singh said, "Firstly, we have to work out and agree on our common priorities. A free, open and rules-bound maritime order is a priority for all of us. 'Might is right' has no place in such a maritime order. Respect for international maritime laws, as enunciated in the UNCLOS, 1982, must be our lodestar.”
"The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in 1982. With it, a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas was laid down establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. Within this broad framework, many more concrete priorities can be fleshed out”, he said,
At the GMC-23, Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy is hosting Chiefs of Navies/ Heads of Maritime Forces/ Senior Representatives from 12 Indian Ocean littorals, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Among others, along with the Indian navy Chief, the senior officials of Malaysia and Mauritius also highlighted the problems faced by the IOR countries and also talked about solutions.
Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said, “The last Conclave had worked on finding the common maritime priorities and thereafter in this conclave, we are looking at generating the collaborative mitigating framework."
He spoke about the GMC evolving from a small construct of Principles of Maritime Security agencies to a functional construct that deals with transnational challenges in the Indian Ocean Region. Highlighting that “oceanic challenges that fester in the Region affect resident states the most”, he stated that the idea is to take the onus of resolving these issues in a cooperative manner. Thus, “in the last Edition of GMC in 2021, ‘Common Minimum Priorities’ were arrived at, and in this year the aim is to formulate ‘Collaborative Mitigation Frameworks’ to address these priorities”.
In his presentation, First Admiral Tay Yap Leong, Senior Director of the Malaysian Institute of Defence and Security flagged several maritime security challenges which include terrorism, Illegal Unregulated Unreported (IUU) fishing, territorial and maritime disputes, transnational crime, piracy and armed robbery, environmental threats, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, Humanitarian And Disaster Response challenges, and geopolitical competition.
Adding further, Anil Kumarsing Dip, Commissioner of Police, Mauritius Police Force, shed light on a pressing global issue of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, which threatens marine ecosystems and sustainability.
"Some nations face fisheries regulatory gaps and enforcement challenges in combating IUU fishing. Furthermore, the enforcement of existing fisheries regulations often falls short, primarily due to limitations in resources," he said.
The Chinese trawlers have been reported to carry out fishing activities in the Indian Ocean.
Related to unregulated fishing, “Effective Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) measures are vital, but all coastal nations face challenges in this regard.”, he added.
Commissioner Dip called the surge in illegal drug trafficking through sea routes one of the "most dangerous and grave menaces to maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region".
"The bane of drugs has become a major concern in Our society with a number of youths falling prey to this menace adding to social insecurities. Drug trafficking is further interlinked with maritime terrorism. With huge profit margins, drug trafficking is by far, the most lucrative means of generating funds to fuel ever-growing terrorist activities and insurgencies around the region," he said.
With the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, intricate geography, porous borders, jurisdictional complexities and the transnational nature of trafficking networks, law enforcement and regulation agencies face formidable obstacles. International legal frameworks jurisdiction and extradition often do not align with the dynamic nature of drug trafficking, enabling traffickers to exploit legal gaps, he added.
He also underlined the legal gaps towards the application of law and information sharing.
"The extraterritorial application of laws to combat drug trafficking faces uncertainties due to differing legal standards and penalties between countries. Also, agreements on interdiction and prosecution are not uniform between countries Or universally accepted, contributing to regulatory gaps. Inadequate information sharing among countries of the Indian Ocean Region impedes collaborative efforts against drug trafficking. Legal barriers to sharing sensitive information further complicate counter-narcotics operations."
Talking about the overall approach, earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Our common security and prosperity cannot be preserved without all of us committing to cooperatively adhere to the legitimate maritime rules of engagement. Fair and just rules of engagement are crucial for fostering such collaboration and ensuring that no single country dominates others in a hegemonic manner."
The 4th edition of Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) - 2023 is being held from 29 to 31 October 2023 by the Indian Navy under the aegis of Naval War College, Goa. GMC is the Indian Navy's outreach Initiative providing a multinational platform to harness the collective wisdom of practitioners of maritime security and academia towards garnering outcome-oriented maritime thought.
Previous editions of the biennial event were held in 2017, 2019, and 2021 and it provides a forum for the exchange of views by the Chiefs of the Navy/ Heads of Maritime Agencies on dealing with contemporary and future maritime challenges, as well as presenting cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability amongst partner maritime agencies.
The theme for this year's edition of GMC is "Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region: Converting Common Maritime Priorities into Collaborative Mitigating Frameworks", which has been derived keeping in mind the necessity of 'synergising and collaborating efforts' in the maritime domain towards achieving maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).