ABOUT IIRF
IIRF is a think tank working on security, international relations, economics, culture, and education. Their priority is to sponsor and publish research papers and articles, initiate discourses, spread ideas on various issues.
STRATEGIC STUDIES AND GEOPOLITICS PROGRAMME
This programme works on defence strategies, deployments, force structures, and current issues relations to borders etc. The geopolitical angle are given emphasis in these analysis to bring out global trends and discern underlying forces driving international relations.
Webinar
on
INDIA’S MARITIME SECURITY CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES
CONCEPT NOTE
India has an extensive coastline of 7,516 km and several hundred islands, including Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal. India faces several challenges in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and it’s larger maritime neighborhood. The challenges and opportunities need to be comprehended if India is to be a major power in the IOR.
India is centrally located with access across the IOR. Maritime economic activities include energy, trade, and fisheries. Many of India’s activities are dependent on Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs). Sea routes and Freedom of Navigation (FoN) is important to India’s national interest. In pursuance of these imperatives, India faces traditional and non-traditional maritime threats[1]. These are continuously being assessed[2]. India needs to develop integrated sea power to address these challenges. China has long been the main maritime challenge to India.
In particular the Belt and Road Initiative is increasing the influence of China in the IOR, including India’s immediate neighborhood[3]. Nuclear Power forms an important part of the equation between India and China. There is a need to develop maritime nuclear deterrence by India including in the maritime domain[4],[5].
Maritime Domain Awareness is an important part of India’s maritime security[6]. There are a number of initiatives to strengthen this element of maritime security. It also has a role in maritime diplomacy[7].
Joint and Integrated Defence play an important role in maritime security[8]. The Tri-Service Andaman and Nicobar Command plays an important role in joint operations[9].
Signalling intent to rivals and enhancing cooperation are the two main pillars of Maritime Diplomacy[10]. India has had an active role in this sphere. The recent creation of AUKUS opens an entirely new scenario for India to address.
MAIN QUESTIONS
Against this backdrop these issues, Indus International Research Foundation, is organising a webinar on Non-Traditional Security Threats. This online seminar shall try and address the following questions:
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What are the strategic challenges facing India in the IOR and Indo-Pacific?
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What are the implications of the BRI for security in IOR and Indo-Pacific?
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Given the presence of numerous nuclear powers in the Indo-Pacific what is the role and capability of India’s Maritime Nuclear Power?
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What is India’s Comprehensive Sea Power and Maritime Power Projection?
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What is the role of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) in maritime security and diplomacy?
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What is the relevance of Joint and Integrated Forces and Theatre Commands for India’s maritime security?
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What are the implications of AUKUS for India’s Maritime Diplomacy and alliances?
WEBINAR SCHEDULE
Day 1: Security Challenges for India
Date: 30 November 2021 Time: 1100 Hrs-1300 Hrs (IST)
(To Join on 30.11.2021 log in through this link 05 minutes before the schedule time – https://indusresearch.webex.com/indusresearch/j.php?MTID=m93b1486c75b7faa36575e1e12fd35f2b )
Session Chair: VAdm Vijay Shankar (Retd)
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 1100-1105 | Welcome | Rishi Athreya
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| 1105-1110 | Introduction to IIRF | Col Vijaykant Chenji (Retd)
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| 1110-1115 | Introduction of topic and speakers | Rishi Athreya
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| 1115-1135 | Chair Address: Maritime Nuclear Power and challenges for India | VAdm Vijay Shankar (Retd) |
| 1135-1155 | Belt and Road Initiative and implications on South Asia and IOR | Gp. Capt. Raj Shekhar Mehta (Retd) |
| 1155-1215 | Maritime Challenges from China in the South China Sea and ASEAN | C. Balasubramanian |
| 1215-1235 | India’s Maritime Security from a Joint and Integrated Forces Perspective | Capt Kamlesh Kumar Agnihotri (Retd) |
| 1235-1255
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Q&A | Organising Secretary |
| 1255-1300 | Vote of Thanks | Brig Sandeep Kumar (Retd) |
Day 2: India’s Sea Power
Date: 1 December 2021 Time: 1100-1300 Hrs (IST)
(To Join on 01.12.2021 log in through the link below 05 minutes before the schedule time)
https://indusresearch.webex.com/indusresearch/j.php?MTID=m650ac853e2998c54f94739189b1c7682
Session Chair: VAdm M.P. Muralidharan (Retd)
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 1100-1105 | Welcome | Col Parapill Madhavan (Retd)
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| 1105-1110 | Introduction to IIRF | Gp Capt Raj Shekhar Mehta (Retd)
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| 1110-1115 | Introduction of topic and speakers | Col Parapill Madhavan (Retd)
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| 1115-1135 | Chair Address: Indian Maritime Thought
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V Adm M.P. Muralidharan (Retd) |
| 1135-1155 | Relevance of integrated sea power in India s maritime domain | Cmdre Venugopal Vengalil (Retd)
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| 1155-1215 | Maritime Domain Awareness | Cmdre S.L. Deshmukh (Retd)
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| 1215-1235 | Role of A&N Islands in Joint Commands | Cmdre Vijesh Garg (Retd)
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| 1235-1255 | India’s Submarine Programme: Cooperation with Allies | Cmdre Anil Jai Singh (Retd)
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| 1255-1315 | AUKUS, Quad and Options for India | Rishi Athreya
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| 1315-1335
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Q&A | Organising Secretary |
| 1335-1345 | Vote of Thanks | Air Cmdre Sandeep Johri (Retd) |
ENQUIRIES
Convenors Col Parappil Madhavan (Retd), Treasurer, IIRF
Organising Secretary: Gp Capt Raj Shekhar Mehta, Secretary General IIRF / Mr Rishi Athreya, Head of Research, (Strategic Studies), IIRF
Email: iirf2021@hotmail.com/iirf.research@gmail.com/ rishi.athreya@googlemail.com
Website : www.indusresearch.in
Twitter : @research_indus
PANEL CHAIR
Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (Retd)
Vice Admiral was commissioned in the Indian Navy in, 1970. A specialist in Navigation and Direction, he holds an MSc in Defence Studies. He is a graduate of DSSC Wellington, CNW Mumbai, and the Naval War College, USA. He has held several staff and command positions. He was the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations and Doctrine Organization and Training). He has been Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Forces. Subsequently he was Commander-in-Chief of the joint services Andaman and Nicobar Command. Admiral Vijay Shankar passes down his operational and strategic experience through articles and participation in seminars that deal with his primary areas of expertise. He has contributed to various professional journals. He has been involved with various think tanks and staff colleges in India. Internationally, his participation in the Track II Ottawa Dialogue, the Bellagio Carnegie Endowment discussions, the Indo-Sino-Pak trilateral dialogue, Chaophraya Dialogue, the Nuclear Crisis Group an Adjunct of the Global Zero Commission, and the papers he has presented there seek to provide a new paradigm for universal nuclear and maritime security with an emphasis on the sub-continent. He has lectured at the MIT Boston, University of Tennessee, Carnegie Endowment Washington DC, The Stimson Centre, Hudson Institute, The Atlantic council, Lawrence Livermore Open Campus, Naval Post Graduate School Monterey, Tuft University and the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London.
V Adm M.P. Muralidharan, AVSM & Bar, NM (Retd)
Vice Admiral M P Muralidharan, retired in Feb 2013 as the 19th Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. A specialist in Navigation and Direction and a Post Graduate in Defence Studies, the Admiral in a career of close to four decades in the Indian Navy, has held several key Operational and Staff appointments including command of three warships. Post retirement, the Admiral was appointed as a Member of the Armed Forces Tribunal at its Regional Bench at Kochi. The Admiral, a keen student of Strategic and Defence related Issues with special focus on Maritime affairs, is a member of various strategic study societies and institutions. He is a regular contributor to professional journals and a speaker and panellist at various Seminars and Conferences.
SPEAKERS
Group Captain Raj Shekhar Mehta, SC
Gp Capt Mehta is a Post Graduate from BHU and an M. Phil from JNU. He was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 1983 and served in various parts of the country. He received his Gallantry award of Shaurya Chakra from the President of India for his exceptional acts of bravery in 1995, while serving at Air Force Station Tezpur in the insurgency area of Assam. As Director Special Works (Planning & Coordination) at Air HQ, he was deeply involved in the planning and development of AF infrastructure in the eastern sector including revival of DBO runway and other advance landing grounds under China Contingency plan. He also served as Instructor at The College of Air Warfare, been the Staff Officer/ADC to the Deputy Chief of Airstaff, Dy Camp Commandant at Air Headquarters and Chief Administrative Officer at Air Force Station, Jammu and 26 Equipment Depot at Bangalore. After his stint in the IAF, he joined Amity University, Noida where he served for eight years. Currently he is a Visiting Faculty and researching BRI and its impact on South Asia and IOR at the same university. He is also the Founding Member and General Secretary of Indus International Research Foundation (IIRF) .
Captain Kamlesh Kumar Agnitori (Retd)
Captain K.K. Agnihotri (Retd) is a Senior Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation (NMF). Prior to this assignment, he was a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), New Delhi, till his retirement in June 2021. His specialised field of work, for the last 15 years, has been on Chinese Defence Forces, and, particularly, the Chinese Navy. He has earlier worked at the Maritime Doctrine and Concepts Centre (MDCC), Mumbai, in the Strategic Maritime Assessment Team (SMAT), and the Maritime Warfare Centre (MWC), Visakhapatnam. His current areas of study include Chinese maritime issues, Indian Ocean security matters and the complex dynamics in the broader Indo-Pacific region. He is a naval Missile and Gunnery specialist. He commanded a Landing Craft Utility ship (LCU) at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He has also qualified as a Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery interpretation and Photogrammetry analyst. He held the Fourth Admiral A K Chatterji Fellowship at NMF and recently released a book titled Leveraging of High-Technology Developments by China in the Military and Maritime Domains.
Rishi Athreya
Rishi Athreya is an alumnus of Flinders University, Adelaide and University of Leeds, wherein he acquired advanced degrees in International Relations and Development Studies. He holds a Certificate in Consulting from the United Kingdom’s Chartered Management Institute. He has worked in academic research within the public sector, as also international organisations, in the fields of consulting and risk analysis. He has served in the Governance Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, where he worked on Public Sector Reform, and Democracy. He has rendered yeoman service in the areas of development assistance and technical cooperation. Mr Athreya is a widely published author and has written on various topics related to governance, security, and diplomacy. He has also been the editor of several publications published by international organisations, thank-tanks, and legislatures. His co-authors have included, amongst others, civil servants, officers of the defence services, and diplomats. He is one of the editors of the book, Chauhan, P., Vasan, R.S., and Athreya, R., (eds.), (2020), Securing India’s Maritime Neighbourhood: Challenges and Opportunities, National Maritime Foundation and Vij Books. He is currently Head of Strategic Studies (Indo-Pacific) for IIRF.
Balasubramaian
C. Balasubramanian is a senior research officer at the Chennai Centre for China Studies, a premier think tank focussing exclusively on China. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration. He is a columnist with regular contributions to Diplomatist, The Geopolitics among others. His areas of interest include China’s Foreign Policy, Indo – Pacific Affairs, Sino-Russian Relations. As an ardent researcher, he has written on Science & Technology, Geoeconomics & Statecraft, and South Asian Region. He is also an editor and contributor to a fortnightly newsletter “China Watch”.
Cmdre Shrikant L. Deshmukh, NM (Retd)
Commodore Deshmukh, has served in the Indian Navy for 32 years. His educational qualifications include BE (Mach), MSc (Def SC), PGDM (Gold Medallist). He holds qualification both in Marine & Aviation fields. He served on board ships & Aircraft carriers. He is specialist on maintenance of Fighter aircraft and Anti Submarines Warfare Helicopters. He held many operational and administrative appointments including Principal Director at Naval HQ, Commodore Superintendent Naval Aircraft Yard, Director Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology and Project Director of a major Naval Aviation Project. He is alumni of Defence Services Staff College (Wellington, Nilgiris). Post retirement from Indian Navy, ne worked with Tata Group for 5 years and is currently working with SUN Group‘s Aerospace & Defence vertical (at Gurgaon) as Senior Vice President (Industrial Cooperation). He has presented papers at various International Seminars. He is Life Member of Aeronautical Society of India. He works in educational field in his spare time. He is an avid writer and writes on Technical matters & issues of common interest. His many articles have been published by C3SI, DRaS and EJSSS.
Commodore Vijesh Kumar Garg, VSM (Retd)
Cmdre Garg was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1984. He is a Naval Aviator and an Anti-Submarine Warfare specialist with very rich experience of flying from aircraft carriers & ships. He was trained in United Kingdom & France in advanced flying for Seaking 42B aircraft. He is an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, Indian Naval Academy, DSSC, Wellington and CDM, Secunderabad. He holds a PG degree in Defence & Strategic Studies and another PG degree in Management. He has also served on the faculty of the College of Defence Management and the visiting faculty for the College of Air Warfare. In his long career over 35 years in the Indian Navy, he has held numerous staff, training and command appointments. He has commanded three naval warships, one naval air squadron, two naval air stations & Delhi Naval Area. His last assignment was as Deputy Director-General of NCC directorate (Tamil Nādu, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands). Currently, he is visiting faculty at IIT, LIBA, NIFT & AMET Chennai.
Commodore Anil Jai Singh
Commodore Jai Singh is the Vice President of the Indian Maritime Foundation and heads its Delhi branch. He was commissioned in the Navy in Jan 1981 and took premature retirement in March 2011. In his career spanning three decades, he had the distinction of commanding four submarines and a Fleet ship. He also served in the Directorates of Naval Plans and Submarine Acquisition at Naval Headquarters. He has been a Directing Staff at the College of Naval Warfare, Senior Instructor(Navy) at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Defence and Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission in London. His last appointment was as Deputy Assistant Chief (Maritime) in the Perspective Planning and Force Development branch of the Integrated Defence Staff in the MoD. A post-graduate in Defence and Strategic Studies, he is an alumnus of the NDA, Defence Services Staff College and the College of Naval Warfare. Keenly interested in matters maritime, he speaks and writes on the subject regularly in India and abroad and is also involved with the Indian industry associations on defence procurement and indigenization issues.
Commodore Venugopal Vengalil, (Retd)
Commodore Venugopal Vengalil, (Retd), was commissioned to Indian Navy in Jan 1979 . He is an alumni of National Defence Academy , DSSC Wellington , College of Naval Warfare , Mumbai & Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies , Honolulu. He is a specialist in Anti Submarine Warfare and has served afloat and ashore in various appointments during his service spanning thirty years. Post retirement, he worked as head of Operations & logistics for a private sector shipping company in Oman supporting multinational Navies engaged in counter piracy operations in Red Sea & Gulf of Oman. Currently he is engaged with CSR initiatives of Tatas in Munnar.
[1] Indian Navy, (2016)Ensuring Secure Seas, India’s Maritime Security Strategy, Pg. 5
[2] Indian Navy, (2016), Ibid., Pg. 6, Pg. 33-35
[3] Nayal. M., Gonen. E., and Chaudhary, R.D., (August 2021), China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Contours, Implications, and Alternatives, National Maritime Foundation,
[4]Kapur, L., (27 May 2021), Wither India’s Submarines, DPG Policy Brief Vol. VI, Issue 16
[5] Sudarshan Shrikhande, (July 2020), Harnessing Indian Sea Power Post-Galwan: Considerations of Time, Space and Force, ORF Issue Brief No. 379, July 2020, Observer Research Foundation.[6] Indian Navy, (2016), Pg. 165
[7]Das, H., (30 Sept 2021),Maritime Domain Awareness in India: Shifting Paradigms, National Maritime Foundation[8] Athreya, R., India’s Relations with France and UK in the Indo-Pacific Electronic Journal of Social and Strategic Studies Volume 2/Special Issue II, Pp. 31-50, Pg 42-43
[9] Chinoy, S., (2020), Time to Leverage the Strategic Potential of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Policy Brief, IDSA
[10] Athreya, R, (2020), Maritime Diplomacy furthering India’s Maritime Aspirations in IOR, in Chauhan, P., Vasan, R.S., and Athreya, R., (eds.), (2020), Securing India’s Maritime Neighbourhood: Challenges and Opportunities, National Maritime Foundation and Vij Books, Pp. 44-69, Pg. 60
