India and Southeast Asia: Towards Security Convergence

3. Seas as Connecting Links

88 INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: TOWARDS SECURITY CONVERGENCE 3 SEAS AS CONNECTING LINKS: SALIENCE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN AND PROSPECTS FOR MARITIME CO-OPERATION Within a span of a few minutes on the fateful morning of 26 December 2004, the tsunami waves dealt a deadly blow to hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, and the physical landscape across several countries. In this regional catastrophe that brought about unprecedented death and misery, the stark reality of the oneness of the vast Indian Ocean region, and especially Southeast and South Asia, was driven home. The element of human security in the populous countries surrounding the Indian Ocean came into a sharp focus. The international community’s response to this tragedy was overwhelmingly spontaneous, sympathetic and supportive. The huge rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Aceh in Indonesia, the worst affected area, would continue for years. Other badly hit countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and India would also require massive reconstruction effort. Since the time of the disaster, India has been continuously engaged in meeting the enormous challenge of reconstruction in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, largely with its own resources even as it immediately sent ships to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia and Thailand to assist these countries in relief work. In Sri Lanka and the Maldives, the Indian assistance was of critical value. The tragedy has shown how the destinies of the peoples of India and the neighbouring Southeast Asia are intertwined just as they had been for thousands of years in the past. It is no coincidence, therefore, that in India’s present Look East policy, the maritime issues constitute a principal dimension. The need for India to safeguard its defence and economic interests in the Indian Ocean region is based on many factors. India has a coastline of over 7,516 kilometres, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 04 India&SEA Ch 3 11/11/05, 8:18 AM 88 Seas as Connecting Links: Salience of Indian Ocean and Prospects for Maritime Co-operation 89 2.172 million square kilometres, and a probable continental shelf, which is being demarcated, of more than 1 million square kilometres beyond the EEZ. To protect all these and the sea lanes of communication against pirates, terrorists, transnational crime and the spread of weapons of mass destruction call for a strategic view of the Indian Ocean as an area essential for its defence as well as development. Sardar K. M. Panikkar, a visionary Indian strategist, foresaw this way back in 1943. In his book The Future of Southeast Asia: An Indian View, he called for India and Southeast Asia to work out a “co-prosperity sphere” based on their interdependence and mentioned the need for a “common defensive system”.1 The co-operative security initiatives that India and Southeast Asian countries are today engaged in through networking and synergizing across a spectrum of political, diplomatic or economic relationships have the maritime connection as a sound basis. However, the Indian Ocean has not loomed large on ASEAN’s canvas, not comparable to the Pacific, at least in recent times. Perhaps it was because of the overwhelming presence of the United States in the Pacific region, the economic influence of Japan or the strategic importance of China. The Indian Ocean is also the least explored ocean, even though it has the largest concentration of naval forces, especially after September 11. As we look at the growing intertwining of interests and concerns of India and Southeast Asia in the contemporary geopolitical or geoeconomic context, it will be useful to see how the maritime interconnection between the two has had a long evolution. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The historical ties between India and Southeast Asia are rooted in the maritime contacts across the Indian Ocean and the Malacca Strait, which date back to thousands of years. The forefathers of the people from India and Southeast Asia clearly did not regard the seas around them as dividing factors. Due to the long coastlines of their countries, they had developed maritime traditions and were adept at sailing the ocean and the seas around them for trade and business. Travel across the seas was the best means of communication, which was much developed before the European navigators started sailing around the world. This was prior to globalization becoming a universal phenomenon. Indian ships, not only from the east coast but also from faraway western coastal regions of Malabar and Gujarat, crossed the Indian 04 India&SEA Ch 3 11/11/05, 8...