“It is essential for us to understand economic and security dimensions of the ocean but in India we lack ‘Ocean Consciousness’ and are only focused on Land security. We must know the relevance of Maritime economy and stop looking at land and water separately,” said Sanjaya Baru Former Director Geoeconomics at IISS and Former DG, FICCI, while speaking during a webinar on ‘Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) Framework for Effective Blue Frontiers in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)” organized by Maritime Research Centre (MCR) in collaboration with M/S NirDhwani Technology Pvt Ltd today.
The panel discussion was hosted by Dr (cdr) Arnab Das, Founder & Director MRC, Pune in presence of Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan, (Retd) Former DG, Indian Coast Guard, Dr. Tomonari Akamatsu, Director, Ocean Policy Research Institute, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Pratap Heblikar, Former Special Secretary Government Of India and Praful Talera, MRC Adviser.
The MCR also launched a UDA Digest, an online platform for information and write-ups on the subject during the webinar.
“India is depended on imported hydrocarbon energy even though the IOR (Indian Ocean Region) contains vast amounts of energy resources in the form of oil and natural gas. Indian policymakers, economists and strategists need to acquire this awareness and involve foreign investments along with modern technology to boost the underwater infrastructure for business and research,” Baru said.
Speaking on the subject, MP Muralidharan said, “The IOR is an important sector as it holds the commercial traffic and is also a repository for marine species. As 65 % of the world’s sea trade passes through it, we must see that there’s no disruption in traffic, while our refineries, oil platforms and pipelines are not choked. We also have to assess India’s current maritime status and its response mechanisms to threats from China, which is engaging its allies to develop their maritime infrastructure in the IOR. As the landing points of our coastal land are not monitored, challenges and threats including terrorism, piracy, human trafficking and illegal fishing should be handled on priority.”
Dr. Tomonari Akamatsu, who gave a presentation of ocean sound monitoring said, “We have to preserve our ‘Coastal Blue Carbon’ ecosystems to mitigate the effects of global warming in the oceans.”
Pratap
Heblikar said, “The question is about raising maritime awareness. We
have to detect, deter, destroy and document all challenges and
incorporate lessons on Marine sector in our education system.”
