Throughout history, the Indian Ocean had remained the pivot of international relations. Following the end of the Cold War, a paradigmatic shift has taken place with the astonishing economic growth of China and India. To sustain the growth rate of the major economies such as China and India and other regional countries, incessant supply of energy has become the dire requirement of the region. But in recent years, maritime threats have been growing exponentially. This perception has been heightened by incidents like 26/11 which took place via sea route. The maritime threats like sea piracy, narco trafficking, gun trafficking and maritime terrorism, particularly after the Mumbai attacks, have created maritime security challenges for the Indian Navy. The focus of this paper is to find out how the Indian Navy is preparing itself to cope with these maritime security challenges.

Named after India and sharing an approximately 7,000-km shoreline, the Indian Ocean has assumed greater significance for India on account of its vital sea lanes which are not only the lifelines of the Indian economy but also of other major economies. Its navigability throughout the year has added more importance to the Ocean. The sea lanes in the Indian Ocean are considered strategically important not only during war time providing passages for logistic and military supply, but also during peace time for facilitating commerce and trade. More than 80% of the world’s seaborne trade in oil transits through Indian Ocean chokepoints, with 40% passing through the Strait of Hormuz, 35% through the Strait of Malacca and 8% through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Approximately 2.49 billion people are housed by the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), representing 40% of the world’s population. With a collective Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity (GDP-PPP) of $10,131 bn, the IOR represented only 10.3% of world GDP-PPP in 2010.2 However, despite these positive features, the region’s role and importance were held hostage by superpower rivalries during the Cold War era. But with the end of the Cold War and introduction of globalization, the old order has changed and the attention has shifted from Atlantic and Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

International Relations Journal, Maritime Security Threats, Indian Ocean, Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity (GDP-PPP), India’s Dependence on Indian Ocean, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).