Maritime security in the Indian Ocean

The Colombo Security Conclave (CSC), one of the important minilateral meetings dealing with security issues in the Indian Ocean region, held a meeting of National Security Advisers in Sri Lanka on August 30 and signed the Charter and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the Secretariat of the organization.

Earlier, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives had set up an annual trilateral defence dialogue. Seychelles and Mauritius were invited to attend the forum as observers. This trilateral defence dialogue was transformed into the Colombo Security Conclave in November 2020, with Mauritius as a new member to establish close cooperation among member states with similar concerns. National security advisors from the four member states – Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Mauritius – attended the recent meeting, while Seychelles participated as an observer (it may join the group in the future). Bangladesh, which will become the fifth member of the CSC in July 2024, did not participate.

Besides the CSC, there are other regional organisations that focus on the Indian Ocean, such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Minilaterals always help countries to forge deeper ties. India has strong ties with these countries, which makes it easier to cooperate and collaborate on security issues and enhance capacity building among the members of this maritime grouping. Since 2021, the CSC has also been holding regular meetings at the level of Deputy National Security Adviser.

Five pillars of the CSC

The Colombo Security Conclave is based on five pillars of cooperation: Maritime Safety and Security; Combating Terrorism and Radicalisation; Combating Human Trafficking and Transnational Organised Crime; Cyber ​​Security and Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Technology; and Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Response. Member States also participate in the Coastal Security Conference held under the auspices of the CSC. Table Top Exercises (TTX), which are conducted regularly, promote interoperability between the armed forces of participating countries.

The CSC is a regional maritime security architecture based on common security challenges faced by member states. It builds maritime security capabilities to respond to emergencies arising from natural disasters and to tackle terrorism, piracy and other challenges. The cooperation among some of these coastal regions in the Indian Ocean can be measured by the fact that the Indian Ocean carries two-thirds of the world’s oil supplies, one-third of its bulk cargo and half of its container traffic. More than three-quarters of its traffic goes to other regions of the world, making it strategically important and a lifeline for trade. The security conclave is the latest addition to the existing multilateral forums of the Indian Ocean region and aims to foster close cooperation among Indian Ocean countries in non-traditional security.

Of these countries, India has historically had close ties with its maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean. For example, Mauritius appoints an Indian as its security adviser. Both Mauritius and Seychelles have an Indian naval officer as their maritime security adviser. These appointments are very important for India as both are important partners in the western Indian Ocean, where China also has a strong presence.

The Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka are part of the Indian coastal radar network. Bangladesh was given the opportunity to install a coastal surveillance system in 2019. Since all these countries are island nations, it will help them monitor fishing vessels under 20 metres, such as county boats, dinghies and fishing vessels, in a high sea-clutter environment and in all weather conditions, thereby improving maritime security. Sri Lanka witnessed how the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam used the sea to bring weapons into the country without being detected by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

India has established joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance with Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles and has conducted joint naval exercises with all CSC countries. It has also provided some of these countries with Indian-built patrol vessels to enhance their capacity to patrol their maritime coastline and EEZ.

Emerging maritime architecture

Given the presence of several major powers in the Indian Ocean, it is important to build a regional security architecture on core issues of the ocean’s littoral. India’s Security and Growth for All in the Region policy, announced in 2015, aims to strengthen ties with the Indian Ocean littoral as the region becomes a hotbed of major power competition. It ostensibly increases the presence of foreign navies to protect maritime communications and engage in anti-piracy operations.

China’s naval expansion in the ocean is aimed at protecting its trade and its navy’s anti-piracy activities. This underscores why the trilateral defence dialogue was expanded and the Colombo Security Conclave was formed to forge a common platform with countries where India already has robust defence cooperation, apart from Bangladesh.

The agreement on the five pillars identified by the CSC shows the priorities of the countries. Piracy and plunder have emerged as major threats. Recently, pirates attacked the Bangladeshi ship MV Abdullah and took its crew hostage. The Indian warship and a long-range maritime patrol aircraft were forced to locate the ship.

In February 2023, India and Seychelles signed an MoU to enhance maritime domain awareness, information sharing, counter-piracy operations, counter-terrorism exercises, training and capacity building. Similar bilateral cooperation mechanisms also exist between India and other member states. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief assumed significance after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. At that time, the Indian Navy was the first to launch a rescue operation.

The CSC countries, including Seychelles, were invited to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony this year. India has responded militarily to coup attempts in both Seychelles and the Maldives in the past. It has close security cooperation with Mauritius, particularly on the island of Agalega, which would help India’s maritime exploration. India’s bilateral ties with the Maldives are gradually improving after the first few months of setbacks from Indian trainers, which newly elected President Mohamed Muizzu, who has waged an anti-India campaign, wanted to send back.

Given the emerging geopolitical context, the Colombo Security Conclave remains an important forum for the emerging maritime security architecture in the Indian Ocean.