Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: Coastal Surveillance Radar Network

Why in News?

• As part of efforts to further expand the coastal radar chain network meant to enable real time monitoring of the high seas for threats as also expand India’s assistance for capacity building to Indian Ocean littoral states, efforts are in advanced stages to set up coastal radar stations in Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to defence sources.

Coastal Surveillance Radar Network

• With sea-based terror and piracy on the rise in the Indian Ocean, India needs to bolster its maritime ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities.
• The original purpose of the Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiative is to allow the Indian Navy and Coast Guard heightened maritime domain awareness to prevent incidents like the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan-based terrorists exploited Indian authorities’ poor coastal awareness and control to infiltrate the Maharashtra coast.
• Indian perceptions of coastal terror threats continue to endure.
• Also, according to Indian estimates, pirates based off the coast of Somalia were shifting their operations into Indian Ocean sea lanes, approaching the Indian Coast.
• Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already been integrated into the country’s coastal radar chain network. Similar plans are in the pipeline with Maldives and Myanmar and discussions are on-going with Bangladesh and Thailand.
• The CSR network is not just an Indian project borne of anxiety about China’s forays into the Indian Ocean.

Nodal Agency

• The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurugram which was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion.
• As part of information exchange regarding traffic on the high seas, the Navy has been authorised by the government to conclude white shipping agreements with 36 countries and three multilateral constructs.
• So far agreements have been concluded with 22 countries and one multilateral construct. Of these, 17 agreements and the one multilateral construct have been operationalised.

Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region

• The IFC has been established at Gurugram, India and is collocated with Information Management and Analysis Centre which is jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.
• IFC-IOR had established itself as the hub of maritime security information in the IOR through white shipping exchange agreements with 21 countries and 20 maritime security centres.
• The IFC-IOR stems from the importance of the Indian Ocean to world trade and security, and the need for the various maritime nations and organisations to collaborate towards enhancing maritime safety and security on the seas of this region.
• IFC-IOR will help interface and integrate, wherein, all partners and stakeholders would benefit from each other’s best practices and expertise.
• At IFC-IOR which is meant to promote Maritime Domain Awareness, three more International Liaison Officers (ILO) is expected to join soon. ILOs from France, Japan and the US have already joined the centre.

SAGAR

• In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra unveiled India’s strategic vision for the Indian Ocean: Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
• SAGAR seeks to differentiate India’s leadership from the modus operandi of other regionally active major powers and to reassure littoral states as India’s maritime influence grows.
• The Indian Navy has demonstrated its capability to assume the role of a ‘net security provider’ in the IOR in recent years by positioning itself as a “first responder” along the Indian Ocean littorals.
• SAGAR has both various distinct and inter-related elements– such as deepening economic and security cooperation in the littorals, enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories, working towards sustainable regional development, Blue Economy, and promoting collective action to deal with non-traditional threats like natural disasters, piracy, terrorism etc.