New Delhi, Aug 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level open debate at the United Nations Security Council’s meeting on ‘Enhancing Maritime Security: a case for international security’ via video conferencing on Monday, August 9, 2021. The debate started at 5:30 pm IST.
The debate was attended by several Heads of states and governments of member states of UNSC, including President of Russia Vladimir Putin and US Secretary of States Anthony Blinken. The meeting was also attended by high level briefers from the UN and a few preselected regional organizations.
PM Modi became the first Indian prime minister to preside over a UNSC open debate. He proposed five basic principles to manage maritime security:
- Free maritime trade without barriers toestablish legitimate trade.
- Maritimedisputestobesettledpeacefully,withstrict adherence to international law.
- Responsible maritime connectivity to beencouraged.
- To collectively deal with maritime threatsposed by natural calamity or non-state actors (an entity that has significant political influence but is not allied to any state or country e.g: media organisations, NGO’s, Human Rights Commission, etc.
- To preserve maritime environment and resources.
What is Maritime Security?
Maritime security deals with the issues in the maritime field pertaining to national security, marine environment, economic development, and human security. Its domain contains water bodies such as oceans, regional sea, territorial waters, rivers, and ports.
Why is it important?
With a coastline of 7,000 km, maritime security is an important aspect of national security for India. It has the potential to deal with issues like piracy, illegal immigration, and weapon smuggling. India’s exports and imports are done mostly on the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean. Hence, it is important to keep these lanes secure.
