Indian Coastline Archives

Coastal Security Arrangement: A Case Study of Gujarat and Maharashtra Coasts

Lack of manpower, training, infrastructure and coordination coupled with other systemic flaws and state government’s indifference to coastal security have severely undermined the efficacy of the coastal security apparatus.

India’s Maritime Security: Five Concerns

There are five fundamental deficiencies in India’s maritime security mechanism that will need to be addressed by the newly appointed National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC), to prevent a recurrence of a 26/11 scenario.

Anurag Bisen
May 18, 2022
Issue Brief

Odisha’s Potential Role in Enhancing Security in the Bay of Bengal

A long coastline, ports, and availability of airfields all make Odisha a strategic asset that provides considerable leverage for securing India’s national interests and enhancing influence in South East Asia.

Bhabani Das
November 13, 2017
IDSA Comments

Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation moves ahead

FIPIC-2 has added substantially to the package of projects and activities. This has now to be matched by delivery and implementation, which are challenging tasks for the Indian government.

China’s Second Coast: Implications for Northeast India

Myanmar’s 2,276 km long coastline in the Bay of Bengal has the potential to provide the ‘second coast’ to China to reach the Indian Ocean and achieve strategic presence in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. Especially transportation logistics to the ‘second coast’ from landlocked south west Chinese provinces like Yunnan have both economic and strategic benefits

Four Years Hence: A Review of the Coastal Security Mechanism

While India has put in place a comprehensive mechanism for securing the country’s coasts, there is still a great deal to be done in terms of addressing issues relating to perceptions, resources as well as organisational management to ensure effective coastal security.

Pushpita Das
November 26, 2012
IDSA Comments

Securing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Andaman and Nicobar islands are of immense strategic significance for India. The geographical configuration and the location of the island chain in the Bay of Bengal safeguards India's eastern seaboard as well the approaches to the Indian Ocean from the east. Its proximity to the Southeast Asian region enables India to forge friendly relations with its Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbours. The physical isolation and remoteness of the archipelago, however, make it vulnerable to conventional and non-conventional threats.

Need to secure the Lakshadweep Islands

While India is augmenting the security of the Lakshadweep islands, implementation of the coastal security scheme on the ground has been slow.

Pushpita Das
December 13, 2010
IDSA Comments

Whither Coastal Security?

State governments have to be coaxed and cajoled into actively participating and cooperating with the Centre in the national endeavour to secure India’s coasts.

Pushpita Das
November 26, 2009
IDSA Comments

India’s ‘Monroe Doctrine’ and Asia’s Maritime Future

Many scholars assume that the European model of Realpolitik will prevail in Asia as the dual rise of China and India reorders regional politics. Others predict that Asia's China-centric tradition of hierarchy will reassert itself. But Indians look as much to 19th century US history as to any European or Asian model. Indeed, successive prime ministers have explicitly cited the Monroe Doctrine to justify intervention in hotspots around the Indian periphery. The Monroe Doctrine, however, underwent several phases during the USA's rise to world power.