United Nations: Countering terrorism on the seas and ensuring maritime safety are central to India’s national security and economic interests, India’s Permanent Representative P. Harish said.
“India views maritime security and countering terrorism as central to its national security and economic interests,” Harish said.
But “India's maritime security strategy is broad and multifaceted,” he said, as it takes on "both traditional threats from state actors and nontraditional threats” from terrorism, piracy, hybrid threats, smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal fishing.
Concerns over terrorism and piracy were echoed by various speakers during the Security Council’s open debate on enhancing maritime security.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said no country is spared from the scourges “from piracy, armed robbery, trafficking and organised crime to destructive acts against shipping, offshore installations and critical infrastructure to terrorism in the maritime domain”.
"And the problem is getting worse,” he warned.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister of Greece and current president of the Council, reinforced this concern, highlighting the dangers of “asymmetrical maritime threats, such as smuggling, terrorism, piracy, but also hybrid attacks which equally affect ships, connections, but also ports.”
Harish said, “India’s maritime security strategy focuses on strong surveillance, effective coordination, and quick response capabilities to protect its long coastline and sea routes.”
At the same time, he said, New Delhi’s “approach balances robust defence capabilities, regional diplomacy, international cooperation and domestic infrastructure development”.
He highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of MAHASAGAR—Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.
As an example, he pointed to the Indian Navy’s efforts in the Western Arabian Sea, where it responded to shipping attacks and piracy by deploying more than 35 ships, addressing 30 incidents, and conducting over 1,000 boarding operations.
These actions resulted in the rescue of approximately 520 crew members and others of various nationalities while safeguarding 312 merchant vessels transporting over 11.9 million tonnes of cargo valued at more than $5.3 billion, he said.
India’s Navy played a key role in safeguarding ships from Houthi attacks and rescuing affected crews in the Red Sea, while also maintaining vigilance against piracy.
Additionally, India conducted relief operations across Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam following the devastation caused by Typhoon Yagi last year.
Harish said India also works with other nations in ensuring maritime security, participating in joint naval exercises at regional and global levels.
One of these was a large-scale exercise last month with ten African countries, AIKYAME, the Sanskrit word for unity, formed by the acronym for “Africa India Key Maritime Engagement”, he said.
The six-day exercise co-hosted by Tanzania was held off its coast, and nine African countries from Djibouti to South Africa participated.
(inputs from IANS)