Standing watch over the Indian Ocean

  Geopolitical compulsions mean that this battle for supremacy is now playing out in the Indo-Pacific region, which spans the maritime area across two oceans (Indian and Pacific). It is home to nearly 65 per cent of the planet’s population and accounts for nearly half of global trade. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation estimates that merchandise exports through this region reached $12.2 trillion and imports nearly 50 per cent of the world’s total in 2024. Some figures suggest that the 

Indo-Pacific is responsible for approximately 46 per cent of international trade.

  The Indo-Pacific is the fastest growing economic region and a major contributor to global economic growth, thereby becoming a vital hub for global trade and supply chains. Owing to its enormous population, trade volumes, and economic dynamism, the region’s stability and security are critical for global prosperity. A growing population leads to higher consumption and demands to sustain it. Moreover, commonality in interests and issues around the two oceans and their associated countries make it sensitive wherein stability is germane to prosperity. So, protecting trade routes and particularly the energy supply lines becomes prudent.

  But what makes the region so vital for it to be kept under surveillance? Why do seafarers need to have the information that emerges from this surveillance? As intriguing these questions are, the answers are more complicated than they might appear at first.

  In 2006, Admiral Michael G Mullen, chief of naval operations of the US Navy (2005-07), had said: “Where the old maritime strategy focused on sea control, the new one must recognise that the economic tide of all nations rises — not when the seas are controlled by one — but rather when they are made safe and free for all … I’m after that proverbial 1,000-ship Navy — a fleet in being, if you will, comprised of all freedom-loving nations, standing watch over the seas, standing watch over each other.”

  It is in this context that the subject matter should be examined.  Team of rivals 

India’s trade, commerce, and energy security lies over the Indian Ocean. Sea routes are the lifeline for its prosperity and development, and protecting them is a national priority. About 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume moves over sea, which also includes a major chunk of its total energy needs. This means securing this large volume of goods is necessary in the open seas, given their vulnerability against piracy, hijacking, terrorism, weather hazards, theft while at anchorage or transiting through narrow straits in peacetime, and interdiction by adversaries in conflict-type situations.  

While conflicts over sea are not frequent, India’s adversarial neighbourhood makes its sea power an important tool for deterrence. In China and Pakistan, India has two nuclear-powered neighbours with unsettled land borders. With the rise in populations and advancements in energy-intensive technology, the contest for resources for power generation will continue across this region. As countries become economically and militarily more powerful, so do non-state and state-backed actors who use technology to wage asymmetric wars for easy money and resources. Hence, reconnaissance is mandatory to protect Indian interests. 

India is not the only country which has stakes in this region. The world’s fastest growing economies such as China, South Korea, and Japan too are heavily dependent on hydrocarbon energy sourced from the Gulf countries, coastal Africa, and Latin America. These, too, are transported over the Indian Ocean.  

At sea, threats develop gradually given the limited speed of ships, though aircraft carriers and ship-based long range missiles can overcome this. Considering how vast the Indo-Pacific is, providing maritime security is not possible for any one country since it requires continuous surveillance, search, and identification of such potential threats. This often calls for an arrangement among like-minded rival countries, termed as maritime security cooperation.  

Across the world, countries and groups of countries are collectively engaged in the task of surveillance to spot the lawbreakers, which in practice means monitoring every speck in the sea, their movement, and — at some point in time — their intentions. With technological advancements and cooperative mechanisms, it has become possible to prevent such illegal acts or subsequently, mitigate its after-effects. Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines, if followed, can ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes over sea and ensure safe and timely arrival of public goods, infringements and non-adherence (as seen in China’s claims over most of the South China Sea) have led to much of geopolitical tensions. 

The grey zone

  As far as India’s immediate seas or the ocean are concerned, the Indian Navy has a robust surveillance network in the form of maritime domain awareness (MDA). One needs to know who is where over our immediate seas (the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Southern Indian Ocean) through which the world’s majority sea lanes of communication pass. India has a cooperative arrangement with over 28 countries who have trade interests in the Indian Ocean. The data of the awareness network is shared with all of them and it is an open-source database for public goods.  

Globally, all vessels are given an IMO code, which they are required to transmit over the automatic identification system (AIS). These can be read by coastal and ship-based radars, as also by satellite-based antennas. It gives the identity of the vessel, details of cargo, departure and arrival ports, and the shipmaster’s identity. This is basic, necessary information for their safe transit and assistance which may be needed in the event of any emergency onboard. 

  Warships are not obliged to transmit over the AIS, but it would be of interest to know that any exploration activity, including fishing, in the exclusive economic zone without prior permission of the concerned coastal country is illegal. Given that marine life such as fish and shrimp (a rich source of protein) constitute food for a large number of countries and India is one of the major exporters, these need to be protected. Despite many regulatory provisions, a large number of fishing boats indulge in illegal fishing and trawling since it is a source of good income. 

  The largest number of illegal fishing activity is conducted by Chinese fishing boats. To keep track of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a provision has been made in the charter of Quad (the Quadrilateral Maritime Security Agreement among the Australia, India, Japan, and the US) wherein the existing MDA network of the four countries will be satellite-linked at a cost of $5 billion to get a complete picture of IUU fishing all across the Indo-Pacific. This is an important security measure too since it has been observed that Chinese fishing boats of China act as a militia and are equipped with sophisticated radars, electronic warfare and communication equipment, and are being used for surveillance and other snooping tasks. The Chinese intention at sea has always been to keep the activities below the threshold of war, or what is popularly known as grey zone warfare. Any military action against these boats could be termed illegal. 

  Eagle eye

  India’s primary area of concern is the Indian Ocean, and the Indian Navy’s ships, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, and satellites keep an eye over the entire ocean, particularly at the choke points through which vessels have to transit to enter or exit the Indian Ocean: the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok straits in the east, and the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Hormuz in the west. 

  The knowledge of the presence of a vessel in a vast ocean is just the beginning of any maritime search operation. The surveillance, investigation, and prosecution phase takes place only if the vessel’s hostile intent is confirmed.

  In modern maritime warfare, this is the space where it will all begin. For instance, China has a number of satellites, which gives it the ability to search the entire ocean without a break. Thereafter, a vessel is identified using various means and tracked. Once the hostile intent is confirmed, the target information is fed real time from the satellite to shore and ship/submarine/aircraft-based radar or fire-control systems, which then fire the projectile on the target being tracked. This satellite tracking ceases only when the target has been hit and destroyed. There is no human intervention in this kill chain. Last year, China launched over 260 satellites over the Indo-Pacific, of which 67 were capable of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. For destruction of satellites in orbit, China also uses anti-satellite laser emitting satellites and reverse cyber satellites, in addition to ground 

and ship-based anti-satellite missiles. 

  It is believed that China made these systems available to Pakistan during the latter’s four-day conflict with India in May, since most of Pakistan’s weapon platforms are of Chinese origin and compatible with the Beidou satellite system. 

  Although India has progressed in space-based systems, much work is required. Our indigenous navigation satellite system (NavIC) was extensively utilised during Operation Sindoor for targeting the runways and important vital areas with BrahMos missiles. The number of satellites are being increased for round the clock search, surveillance, identification, tracking, and targeting. The data obtained by these systems are available with all ships and shore-based data walls in the maritime operation centres. Rapid technological advancement calls for equally rapid adoption in maritime warfare more than any other form of war, since one is looking at noncontact, long-distance and strategic nature of warfare. 

  Oceans will continue to play a central role in the prosperity of humankind as 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is water. Across the world, navies are deployed to protect their own country’s trade lanes and use every asset available to prohibit adversaries from intercepting their commercial shipping. These navies also support land operations of the respective armies and air forces by targeting the vital points over land with very long range missiles, taking the heat off the forces on land borders. Increasingly, maritime warfare will begin with a space war and end in land or sea-based targets. Every sailor needs to be trained accordingly and not be dependent on any other agency.