
INDIA’S MARITIME DIPLOMACY, 2004–14
by Rahul Roy-Chaudhury in Forging New Partnerships, Breaching New Frontiers: India’s Diplomacy during the UPA Rule 2004–14, ed Rejaul Karim Laskar, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022)
In the 21st century, India has emerged as one…

IDENTIFYING THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES IN INDIA TO PREVENT ILLEGAL AND UNREGULATED TRADE OF CORALS
In May of 2022, two aquarium hobbyists, from New Town and Kasba (Kolkata) respectively, were arrested by forest officials and placed under judicial custody for a week, for decorating their fish tanks with live corals. A marine species protected…

REAM NAVAL BASE UPGRADE PROJECT IN CAMBODIA: NEW POINT FOR GEOPOLITICAL CONTESTATION IN THE INDO-PACIFIC
A resurgent China aspires to be a great maritime power with a vision to maintain a naval presence in distant seas across the globe. Recognising that this presence can only be sustained through logistics and administrative support, Beijing seeks…

THE VIKRANT AIRCRAFT CARRIER REBORN: INDIAN NAVY’S ‘ATMANIRBHARATA’ ENDEAVOUR COMES OF AGE
The commissioning of the Indian indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is a seminal event in the long and illustrious history of the Indian Navy. The occasion also marks the maturing of India’s warship designing and construction…

MARITIME DOCTRINE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 2022: AN ANALYSIS
On Sunday, 31 July 2022, by Presidential Decree 512, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin approved the 2022 Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation, which replaces the 2015 maritime doctrine. Released on the occasion of the Russia’s 326th…

INDIA @75: REFLECTIONS ON THE HOMELAND DIMENSIONS OF MARITIME SECURITY IN INDIA
As India celebrates and commemorates 75 years of independence, it is also a moment to trace the events which shaped the development of the homeland dimensions of maritime security and to reflect on its evolution. Evolving maritime threats,…

TOWARDS SHAPING A FAVOURABLE AND POSITIVE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT IN THE INDO-PACIFIC
Doctrinal and Strategic Nuances
The methodology of shaping a favourable and positive maritime environment can assume many forms, which can be pursued by three main distinct approaches. The first is via a stand-alone nationalistic approach,…

STRENGTHENING MARITIME SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN INDIA: A CASE FOR ‘STATE MARITIME SECURITY COORDINATORS’
In February 2022, the Central Government appointed India’s first National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC). The need for an apex-body for coordination was recommended way back in 2001 in the Report of the Group of Ministers on National…

ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT — CHOOSING SWAVLAMBAN (SELF-RELIANCE) OVER SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Note: Some segments of this article have been published by the author in the South Asia Defence and Strategic Review (Vol 16 Issue 2 May – Jun 2022) and are repeated here with due permission.
As the Indian Navy gears up for the 2022 edition…

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
This article was first published in the April 2022 edition of Benedict's Maritime Bulletin [Vol 20, No 2, Second Quarter 2022] and is reproduced with due permission".
Even almost a century after the seminal 1927 Permanent Court…

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF MARITIME SECURITY COOPERATION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION: A CASE STUDY OF THE INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM (IONS) – PART I
Overview
“States that adjoin this ocean are differentiated by their varying political ideologies, by the God they pray to, by the language they converse in, by their history and their race.”[1]
The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has variously…

THE ISPS CODE AND THE MARITIME SECURITY OF INDIA PART - II
This is the second part of an article on the very basics of the ISPS Code and its applicability to Indian ship- and port-facility security. It is reiterated that this article has been written to provide fundamental, baseline-information…