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By:

Capt. Naveen S. Singhal and Capt. M. M. Saggi

9 August 2025 at 7:09:34 pm

India’s Security Starts at the Shore

From fishermen and coastal businesses to merchant ships, India must turn its maritime economy and communities into a stronger layer of national resilience. India’s security landscape has evolved beyond traditional threats like enemy warships, submarines, missiles, and land forces to encompass hybrid challenges. Now, research vessels, survey ships, fishing fleets, maritime militia, drones, merchant ships, environmental incidents, proxy networks, and local intelligence activities all impact...

India’s Security Starts at the Shore

From fishermen and coastal businesses to merchant ships, India must turn its maritime economy and communities into a stronger layer of national resilience. India’s security landscape has evolved beyond traditional threats like enemy warships, submarines, missiles, and land forces to encompass hybrid challenges. Now, research vessels, survey ships, fishing fleets, maritime militia, drones, merchant ships, environmental incidents, proxy networks, and local intelligence activities all impact national security. This is particularly relevant for India due to increasing threats in the Indian Ocean Region. Since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India has strengthened coastal security and recognised the importance of coastal and fishing communities as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the security system. The next step should be to institutionalise this idea through a National Coastal and Border Citizen Security Awareness Programme. The aim is to create an informed public-warning layer that knows what to observe, what to avoid and whom to inform. National Resilience At the same time, India must treat merchant shipping as an instrument of national resilience. In any crisis or war, the Indian Navy will require fuel, stores, ammunition, sealift, repair support, harbour services, evacuation capacity and offshore logistics. India therefore needs a Strategic Merchant Marine Reserve of Indian-flagged vessels that can be mobilised in national emergencies. A small boat, such as a dhow, fishing trawler or tourist craft, may appear harmless, but it can be misused for reconnaissance, the landing of men or material, smuggling, logistics support, illegal communications or sabotage. Similarly, a coastal hotel, resort, warehouse, marina or water-sports operator may unknowingly be useful to hostile actors seeking information or access. A national citizen-awareness programme should therefore cover fishermen, coastal residents, port workers, hotel and resort employees, tourist boat operators, marine service providers, customs brokers, truck drivers, coastal panchayats, schools, colleges and local businesses. The training must be simple, repeated and delivered in Indian languages. Fishermen should be specifically encouraged to report foreign research vessels, unusual survey activity and unexplained fishing or trawler movements close to sensitive maritime zones. It should not expect citizens to perform intelligence work or confront suspicious persons. The Government’s Vibrant Villages Programme, which enhances certain border villages, serves as a valuable model. Its security-awareness approach should be expanded to other regions, including coastal states. When executed properly, this programme can also foster national integration by uniting efforts to protect the country, the Republic of India. Hotels, resorts, marinas, tourist operators, fishing harbours, coastal warehouses and port contractors should be brought under a light but meaningful Coastal Business Security Code. This need not be burdensome. It should require basic staff training, guest verification, emergency contact lists, suspicious-activity reporting procedures and periodic participation in local drills. A trained ecosystem can identify warning signs before they become incidents. Foreign fishing fleets also have strategic significance. Such vessels can provide presence, surveillance, logistics, intimidation and deniability. A ship need not fly a naval ensign to serve naval objectives. India must therefore build a society-wide habit of lawful observation and reporting, even when everything is fine, particularly around sensitive waters, island territories, submarine-cable routes, offshore energy assets, ports and naval approaches. Strategic Reserve India must also look inward. In a major crisis, the Navy cannot operate on combat platforms alone. In protracted operations, the Navy would require a merchant-marine backbone: tankers for fuel, cargo ships for stores and ammunition, offshore vessels for support, tugs for harbour operations, heavy lift repair vessels, hospital or evacuation capacity, coastal transport and sealift. Modern naval power is sustained not only by warships, but also by the commercial maritime system that supports them. The United States, the United Kingdom and other maritime powers have long understood that merchant shipping forms part of national power. In line with India’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 and for strengthening of India’s maritime security, India should create a National Maritime Auxiliary and Strategic Sealift Framework, broadly comparable in purpose, though not necessarily in structure, to the military sealift arrangements used by major maritime powers. This also requires building Indian-flagged ships with dual-use features as well as creating a mechanism to include existing merchant vessels in national emergencies, such as, Product tankers, coastal tankers, container feeders, ro-ro vessels, multipurpose cargo ships, offshore support vessels, dredgers, tugs, heavy-lift vessels, harbour craft and passenger-cum-evacuation vessels since all have crisis value. This does not mean converting merchant ships into warships. It means designing them with features that improve usefulness in emergencies. The Government should incentivise such vessels through tax benefits, priority cargo, viability-gap funding, cargo reservation, lower port dues, green finance, shipbuilding support and defence-readiness grants. They should be maintained to high standards and periodically inspected for auxiliary readiness. US has for years treated parts of its commercial maritime sector as a reserve of strategic capability and China is following their footsteps, thus India cannot afford to ignore this dimension. The Government should create a voluntary Merchant Marine Support Register for Indian flagged vessels. Shipowners could enrol vessels in return for defined incentives. In peacetime, such ships would continue normal trading. In a national emergency, they could be mobilised for fuel carriage, stores transport, evacuation, offshore support, towing, repair assistance, harbour services, pollution response or logistics support to the Navy and Coast Guard. This would also require conducting tabletop drills and exercises regularly to test preparedness. India’s 2047 maritime vision should explicitly recognise merchant shipping as a national-security enabler, not just a trade instrument. A trained citizen layer along the coast and border, combined with a capable strategic merchant marine reserve, would enhance security of India’s extensive 11,098 km of coastline. (Capt. Naveen Singhal is Marine Consultant and Member of the Singapore Shipping Association. He has been extensively involved in the inspection of US Navy’s non-commissioned, Military Sealift Command vessels in Diego Garcia and other naval bases in South East Asia. Capt. MM Saggi is former Nautical Advisor, Government of India. Views personal.)

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

PTI
Feb 14, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

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