Multi-Agency Maritime Security Group (MAMSG)

Context: At the first meeting of the Multi-Agency Maritime Security Group (MAMSG), National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, while calling for seamless coordination among all stakeholders involved in the maritime domain, stated that the maritime domain was a multilateral construct and a nation “cannot unilaterally decide” in the maritime domain.

• The MAMSG is envisaged to provide a standing and effective mechanism to ensure coordination of all aspects of maritime security, including coastal and offshore security, as well as fill the institutional, policy, technological and operational gaps in meeting present and future security challenges.
• Importantly, the group will also address maritime contingencies requiring an urgent and coordinated response
• Chaired by: India’s first National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) Vice-Admiral Ashok Kumar (Retd.)

Key Discussions:

• Land border and maritime border are very different. Maritime borders cannot be fenced. We cannot have the concept of zero per cent tolerance for intrusion. So, we need technology and other ways of countering it.
• While India being a peninsular position was a great advantage, the cardinal principle was the country’s vulnerabilities were directly proportional to assets. The more India developed, the more assets it created, the more trade and commerce increased, greater would be the threat and vulnerability in the maritime domain.
• Economic interests and coastal infrastructure are critical to exploit our maritime resources.
• A number of crucial policy issues on maritime security were taken up, including “mapping of existing orders and policies on maritime security to identify gaps, review of standard operating procedures for maritime contingencies, security of ports and coastal infrastructure, creation of a national maritime database, capacity building of coastal States and UTs and promotion of blue economy.”

India:

• 95% of Indian trade by volume is maritime and routed via 12 major and over 200 non-major ports.
• Over 90% of the hydrocarbon requirements are met through seaborne imports and offshore production.
• With over three lakh fishing vessels, the marine fisheries sector is also a major contributor to the economy and livelihood of the fishing community.

Source: The Hindu