In August 2021, the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, chaired a High-level Open Debate on ‘Enhancing Maritime Security – A Case for International Cooperation’ during India’s rotating presidency of the UN Security Council. This was the first time that maritime security was discussed exclusively as a holistic concept at the UN Security Council. This marked the progressive upscaling of efforts by India to shape the discourse on international cooperation for  maritime security.

In the 21st century, the concept of maritime security has evolved, and continues to evolve, encompassing widening dimensions of security. Increasing threats to maritime security have also underscored the need for enhancing international cooperation to ensure freedom of the seas.  

Over the years, India has taken on a stewardship role in fostering international maritime security cooperation through policy pronouncements, such as Security and  Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) in 2015, and providing greater first-order specificity to the policy through the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) of 2018, and even greater orders of specificity, through cooperative and practical actions dispersed over time and space.

Against this backdrop, this book, aims to comprehensively explore the ‘nuts and bolts’ of India’s multidimensional maritime security cooperation, going beyond military maritime diplomacy. In doing so, the book also endeavours to link India’s vision, policy, doctrine, strategy, and action. In short, the book is about the India Way for maritime security cooperation. A must read for all categories of stakeholders in, and beyond, the maritime domain.

Captain Himadri Das is a serving naval officer and presently Directing Staff at the Naval War College (NWC), Goa.  Previously, he was Senior Fellow at the NMF. He graduated from the erstwhile Naval Academy, Goa and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 July 1994.  In addition to steering/ contributing to several doctrines in the Indian Navy, including strategic and operational level doctrines, he has authored several articles on coastal security in India and is the author of two books on coastal security: Coastal Security: Policy Imperatives for India and Coastal Dimensions of Maritime Security also published by the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) in  2019 and 2022 respectively.  He is also an editor of the Indian Naval Despatch, the Indian Navy`s flagship journal, published by the Indian Naval Despatch Foundation (INDEF). He holds an MPhil degree in Defence and National Security Studies, post graduate degrees in nautical sciences, international relations, and maritime law, as well as a post graduate diploma in human resource management