There is an emerging narrative which pushes a green agenda for India’s maritime outlook. Blue economy, an idea as conceived by Gunter Pauli, has already received recognition among the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) littoral states. Blue Economy signifies a subset of Economy for marine activities by incorporating the principles of social inclusion, environment sustainability with […]
Introduction Sri Lanka is conscious of its geostrategic position, and the advantage its ports hold in the Indian Ocean Region. One such port is the Hambantota Port, situated along one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping routes, which passes 10 nautical miles from Hambantota. The island country holds the potential to become an advanced commercial […]
Examples of India’s cultural and civilizational nautical linkages with the rest of the world built over centuries, have presently come to occupy a prominent place in India’s maritime diplomacy. This issue brief tries to understand the reasons for this development. It spells out some of the civilizational and cultural narratives discussed by India’s political leadership; […]
Lately, the apex political leadership in India has clearly enunciated the nation’s vision to develop its comprehensive maritime power. The vision seeks to revive India erstwhile maritime heritage and make concerted maritime endeavours in tandem with its extended regional neighbourhood to satiate the overall national objective of economic development and prosperity for its citizens. During […]
The Context Palk Bay is the South-western portion of the strait which is a small stretch of ocean in the Bay of Bengal located between Northern Sri Lanka and south eastern India. The strait is bounded on the south by Pamban Island, Adam’s bridge (also known as Rama Setu), the Gulf of Mannar. The strait […]
Since 2010, the concept of ‘Indo-Pacific’ has gained increasing prevalence in the geopolitical/ strategic discourse, and is now being used increasingly by policy-makers, analysts and academics in Asia and beyond.[1] It is now precisely a decade since the concept was proposed by the author in 2007. Although the Australians were using this term earlier, it […]
On 16 December 2016, the USNS Bowditch was conducting oceanic survey, 50 nautical miles (NM) northwest of Subic Bay, Philippines. As part of these operations, the vessel had deployed two Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (UUV), which as per the Pentagon, were being used in an unclassified program to collect oceanographic data. While the Bowditch was preparing […]
Ballast water is used to stabilize the ships and is essential for the hydrodynamic safety of the ship. Ships fill in ballast water in their tanks after unloading the cargo at the destination port and then discharge it prior to reaching the source port. During this process, a large number of marine organisms such as […]
On 20 January 2017, Mr Donald Trump assumes office as the 45th President of the United States (U.S.). Six years ago in 2011, his predecessor, President Barak Obama launched the ‘Rebalance to Asia’. Among the key objectives of the policy were to engage with the economically rising Asia-Pacific, maintain U.S. supremacy in this […]
Introduction The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has selected – ‘Connecting Ships, Ports and People’- as the World Maritime Day theme for 2017.[1] The theme for 2016 was – ‘Shipping: indispensable to the world’.[2] The purpose of selecting these themes is to spell out the manner in which shipping impacts the everyday lives of ordinary people […]
An International Maritime Conference on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gwadar Port was held on 13-14 December 2016 at Gwadar. It was organised by the Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) on the theme – ‘CPEC and Gwadar Port as Harbinger of Regional Integration and Maritime Economic Development.’ Officials from China and Iran were […]