Appointment of National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security

Context

The Indian government is planning to create and appoint a National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC), two decades after the Kargil Group of Ministers’ recommendation.

About the National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC)

• NMSC will act as an interface between the civilian and military maritime domain to enhance security architecture and energy security in India.
• It will break the silos and cut across the turf of Navy, Coast Guard, State Maritime Boards to enhance maritime domain awareness and ensure a better response.
• The Maritime Security Coordinator will work under Indian National Security Advisor and be the principal advisor to the government on the maritime security domain.
• The appointment of NMSC fills the need of the hour as the Navy, Coast Guard and state maritime boards all tend to work in silos with overlapping jurisdictions and are constantly at odds with each other.
• Agenda: The Chinese forays into the Indian Ocean via Pakistan and Myanmar will be on top of the NMSC agenda.

Significance of the NMSC

• 70 per cent of Indian trade including vital crude oil is transported through sea and the protection of sea shipping lanes is vital to India’s security.
• With China moving towards a sea-based security doctrine and penetrating the Indian Ocean through Pakistan and Myanmar, the post of NMSC will be vital for maritime and energy security as Beijing plans to reach the eastern seaboard of Africa through the Indian maritime domain.
• The creation of NMSC is part of enhancing maritime capability through Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth of All in the Region), Deep Ocean Mission and the Sagarmala project to make India’s 12 major ports into the world-class standard.