7. Competitive, Cooperative and Convergent Maritime Security and India’s National Security

The IOR has been witnessing a state of power play among the naval powers which has resulted in strategic competition in the region. The post-Cold-War debates that have surrounded the discourse between traditional and non-traditional dimensions of security have considered that traditional security threats often places its primacy to inter-state security issues as the dominant factor while the non-traditional school emphasizes upon the theoretical frame of ‘security’ which includes the entire gamut of political, economic, social, environmental and human dimensions of security which has multiple referents besides the state. In this article, the focus would be to assess the concept of maritime security in both traditional and non-traditional contexts. The article would then examine both traditional and non-traditional maritime security in the context of India’s national security. It is in the context of India’s national security and more particularly in the context of maritime security that the concepts of competition, cooperation and convergence would be used to explain the challenges and opportunities as it presents itself for India. The article would conclude with an assessment for India’s future maritime and naval imperatives that would complement India’s national security.