What are the maritime security challenges in India ? Discuss the organisational, technical and procedural initiatives taken to improve the maritime security.
Approach · directive: “what / discuss”
What it asks · Set out India's maritime security challenges and discuss the organisational, technical and procedural steps taken to improve coastal and maritime security.
The question has 4 parts — answer each
- What: the maritime security challenges India faces
- Discuss the organisational initiatives taken to improve maritime security
- Discuss the technical initiatives
- Discuss the procedural initiatives
Open with · With a long coastline, island territories and busy sea lanes, India faces threats from the sea that range from terrorism to piracy and illegal fishing.
Cover
- Challenges: sea-borne terrorism as in 26/11, piracy, smuggling of arms, drugs and people, illegal fishing and migration, maritime boundary disputes and a growing extra-regional naval presence.
- Other risks: vulnerable ports and offshore assets, cyber attacks on port systems, oil spills and marine disasters.
- Organisational: the Navy leads overall maritime security, the Coast Guard the coastal waters and Marine Police the shallows, coordinated by the National Committee for Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security and joint operations centres.
- Technical: coastal radar chain, AIS transponders and vessel tracking, the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence network, and the Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region.
- Procedural: registration and identity cards for fishermen and boats, coastal exercises such as Sea Vigil and Sagar Kavach, ISPS Code port security, and information-sharing protocols among agencies.
- Regional approach: the SAGAR vision, joint patrols and anti-piracy cooperation; gaps remain in manpower, coordination among many agencies and asset maintenance.
Close with · Seamless intelligence sharing, well-equipped State marine police and the involvement of fishing communities are the weakest links to fix.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 226 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
With a long coastline, island territories and busy sea lanes, India faces threats from the sea that range from terrorism to piracy and illegal fishing; the 26/11 attack exposed how thin coastal security was.
Maritime security challenges
- Threats: sea-borne terrorism as on 26/11, piracy, smuggling of arms, drugs and people, and illegal fishing and migration.
- Strategic: maritime boundary disputes and a growing extra-regional naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
- Vulnerabilities: ports and offshore assets, cyber attacks on port systems, oil spills and marine disasters.
Organisational initiatives
- A three-tier structure: the Navy leads overall maritime security, the Coast Guard covers coastal waters and Marine Police the shallows, coordinated by the National Committee for Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security and joint operations centres.
Technical initiatives
- A coastal radar chain, AIS transponders and vessel tracking, the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence network, and the Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region.
Procedural initiatives
- Identity cards for fishermen and registration of boats, coastal security exercises such as Sea Vigil and Sagar Kavach, ISPS Code security at ports and information-sharing protocols among agencies.
- Regional: the SAGAR vision, joint patrols and anti-piracy cooperation with Indian Ocean partners.
Gaps remain in manpower, coordination among many agencies and asset maintenance; seamless intelligence sharing, well-equipped State marine police and fishing communities as the eyes of the coast are the weakest links to fix.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.