Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia p�ISSN: 2541-0849
�e-ISSN: 2548-1398
Vol. 6, No. 6, Juni 2021
Mishka Husen Balfas
Paramadina Graduate School of
Diplomacy, Jakarta, Indonesia
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
The Indian Ocean region is currently
becoming the world's attention. Although many parties see good opportunities
from various aspects, this region still has its own challenges. The Indian
Ocean provides a complex geopolitical framework in which foreign powers and
local state interests are deeply intermingled. This paper discusses how the
collaboration and synergy undertaken by countries in the Indian Ocean region
face non-traditional maritime security challenges, especially those directly
related to ocean health and the environment. Moving on from the three SDG
points directly related to environmental issues, countries in the Indian Ocean
region have shown collaboration to maintain regional stability from all
aspects, especially environmentally sustainable development. Furthermore, more
intensive cooperation is needed because there are more and more challenges,
especially non-traditional ones.
Keywords: �indian ocean; collaboration; non-traditional maritime security
challenges; environmentally sustainable development
Introduction
The
geopolitical perspective shows that the Indian Ocean as the third largest ocean
in the world is the body water between Africa, Asia and Australia. Over the
past few years, Indian Ocean currently categorized as a trade busy ocean.
Around 100,000 ships travel the region annually, carrying up to a third of the
world�s bulk cargo, half of the holders and two-thirds of the oil (Upadhyaya, 2014).
Over the centuries, the
countries on the shores of the Indian Ocean have been bound by common trade,
religion, culture and traditions (Kaplan, 2011). The
main thing that characterizes this region is its diverse geographical
arrangement. The pattern of political activity, population, economy, and
environment varies widely from country to country. Therefore each country has
its own uniqueness in terms of geographic specifications. It is also important
that political boundaries usually tend to be inconsistent with the distribution
of other important factors such as ethnicity and religion. The types of natural
resources vary widely. They are not evenly divided from one region to another.
This is what makes this area quite difficult to describe (Bouchard & Crumplin,
2010).
Marine resources and their
health are critical because they relate to various human and environmental
problems. The oceans have historically provided food and other resources and
converted goods from one island to another. Apart from that, the oceans are also
a source of livelihoods and economic development opportunities and activities
related to recreation and cultural beliefs. The oceans extract a lot of
renewable energy, and the biodiversity in the ocean also currently shows the
value for the burgeoning biotech industry. However, it is not just values or
concerns that matter. Another thing is that the oceans provide ecosystem
services, including maintaining the climate and weather systems. Besides, the
oceans also act as a carbon sink and absorber of other wastes in addition to
the intrinsic value that marine life has (Techera, 2018).
The
transnational security challenges faced by the Indian Ocean region are varied.
The challenges are related to the environment, which is also the impact that
occurs on climate change. The geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region has
gradually become more challenging than in recent decades. Strategic
arrangements made in the Indian Ocean also tend to be more multipolar and
unstable at one time (Bergin, Brewster, Gemenne,
& Barnes, 2019). �
According
to the World Energy Outlook 2009, 55% of the world's oil reserves and 40% of
the world's natural gas reserves are in the Persian Gulf. Indonesia and
Malaysia are the top 20 countries with natural gas reserves in the world.
Australia, India, and South Africa also have large coal reserves, while
Australia ranks first and South Africa ranks fourth as countries with
affordable uranium reserves, respectively (ENS, 2010).
As
global highways of connectivity, the Indian Ocean was used by many European
Countries for a long time ago. They used the region to explore, influence, and
colonize more societies. They also build many infrastructures in the region
such as railroad, highways, ports, etc. This infrastructure capacity building
also developed in line with the consolidation of colonial power. This
inherently available baseline, as large parts of the IOR coast gained
independence post-World War II, provided the necessary springboard for the
development of strong maritime capacities (Agnihotri, 2016).
The
three waterways in the Indian Ocean are a means of world oil trade with about
80% and are also known as connecting points. The Strait of Hormuz, located
between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is included in this route. This
is because this route provides the only route to the high seas. This has
boosted countries' economic growth in the Indian Ocean, growing rapidly as
investors seek new opportunities. Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and Tanzania all
experienced more than 5% in 2017 - well above the global average of 3.2%. This
shows that the Indian Ocean is a promising area (Jeffrey, 2019).
Global
prosperity and technological advances in competition for resources in and under
the oceans, especially energy and protein, are increasing. World energy
consumption has grown significantly, especially in Asia and the Middle East.
The fast-growing economies of India and China are expected to become major
energy consumers in the future. Besides national efforts to control energy
sources and energy delivery information, some observers argue that energy
competition can lead to conflict. However, the opposing view is that it is in
the common interest of countries interested in proposing stability (Cordier, 2010).
In
his comprehensive book published in 2012 entitled Samudra Manthan, Raja Mohan
provides an analysis that discusses the consequences of the growth of India and
China as a world maritime space in the 21st century in two major oceans, namely
the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Mohan began his analysis in the late
twentieth century when the two countries, with trade as a strong factor in both
countries, developed. Also, they shifted their focus to naval expansion and the
search for raw materials. Mohan ends his analysis by giving an insight into
three possible outcomes for China and India's rivalry in the Indo-Pacific
region: cooperative security, great power concerts, and a balance of power
systems (Mohan, 2012).
Fisheries
regulations at the national level in the Indian Ocean region tend to focus on
commercial fishing and food security initiation, which includes climate change,
which generally depends on agriculture rather than aquaculture. As an important
thing in the maritime aspect, fishery regulations must regulate all types of
fishing, which includes fisheries regulations on a small and large scale. The
importance of collaboration between countries in the Indian Ocean region is
important. The approach must address local problems even though all fisheries
cannot be community-based or managed from the ground up. One thing that must
always be considered is the need for a sophisticated, holistic, and integrated
legal and policy framework. But for some countries in the Indian Ocean, we can
see that the main problem is the capacity to develop laws and policies, the
resources for implementation, and the political will to ensure enforcement.
This is likely to remain a challenge for some time to come. The Indian Ocean
region's special context will achieve much more through regional cooperation
and collaboration (Techera &
Appadoo, 2020).
Marine
resources and the environment in the ocean are already under pressure from
marine pollution. Besides, overfishing and environmental degradation that
affect habitat are challenges that also must face collectively. Refinement of
fisheries regulations to ensure sustainable stabilization is required to
address these issues. Moreover, that will be important if the fisheries sector
contributes to the goals of a blue economy. The Indian Ocean region faces
global challenges to address the impacts of climate change: rising sea levels
and temperatures, acidifying oceans, and events associated with extreme
weather. This impact, of course, will have a strong influence in terms of
fisheries causing changes to the distribution of species, productivity, and
community structure (Cheung et al., 2016).
Research
Methods
The
research method used in this research is qualitative research methods. A
qualitative research method is an approach or searches to understand and
understand a central phenomenon (Fetters, Curry, & Creswell, 2013).
Results and Discussion
Understanding
non-traditional security in the Indian Ocean region is essential to know why
this non-traditional security is the main topic nowadays. Significant efforts
have been made to address these issues through international, national, and
local laws and various programs and projects. In this context, Agenda 2030
included a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) focused specifically on oceans.
When we connect the non-traditional security challenges to the SDG, we will
find 3 goals related to the challenges: Goal 13 Climate Action, Goal 14 Life
bellow Water, and Goal 15 Life on Land.
�� Apart from being motivated by the SDGs' objectives,
IORA itself, as an association of countries in the Indian Ocean region, has
also become a benchmark for the realization of the expected collaboration in
facing non-traditional challenges. As stated in the IORA Charter, this
collaboration is also a solution that states that IORA focuses on areas of
economic cooperation that provide maximum opportunities to develop common
interests and reap mutual benefits. It also includes environmental protection,
energy, agriculture, and disaster management (Van der Linde, 2015).
�� After the Cold War, which involved two major
world powers, namely the United States and the Soviet Union, there was an
increase in conflicts. This was due to the intense and often brutal
intervention by the United States. Another cause is when new problems emerge,
categorized as non-traditional security problems, including terrorism,
trafficking of all kinds, maritime piracy, environmental problems, and poverty.
�� India's emergence as a major power in the
Indian Ocean on the regional chessboard is of global concern; besides that,
China's increasing presence also has its own influence. The increasing
intrinsic strategic value and crucial aspects of oil reserves in the Persian
Gulf and the Indian Ocean as the world's most important energy are concerned.
This is also due to the Indian Ocean as a maritime route for international
trade and a naval operation arena, which is very much needed by countries who
want to secure a vital role in the region (Bouchard & Crumplin,
2010).
�� Using insights from critical geopolitics
shows how these mental maps and geopolitical visions converge, compete with,
and in some cases even collide while reconfiguring within/outside the Indian
Ocean Territory. Prevailing stories based on the security development of the
Indo-Pacific Locale are likely to be dispersed by preservationist specialists
and commentators who are basically concerned with collective conventional
employments of security and force-directed either transparently or
clandestinely to person nations, and more particularly, to China (Rumley, Doyle, &
Chaturvedi, 2012).
�� Understanding the geopolitical and
geostrategic context of this region and its growing significance must first be
considered how it developed from the 1960s and 1970s. The Indian Ocean region
shifted from an area that was not very much interested in becoming one of the
most desirable areas. Has crucial geostrategic importance. Next is the
importance of introducing the Indian Ocean by highlighting its various
contributions to the region and discussing its geostrategic context. It
provides and proposes an understanding of the Indian Ocean Territory and
addresses geopolitics and geography in its main characteristics. As the Indian
Ocean region's development accelerates, peace and security are important
matters to consider the situation in the Indian Ocean because, in the next few
decades, regional volatility will remain a major challenge for foreign powers
and the main interests in the Indian Ocean region (Bouchard & Crumplin, 2010).
�� A
region is not only a collection of nation-states, but a region also reflects
the different constellations of domestic interest in a country. In this
respect, the more innovative territory that Jayasuriya calls spatial-based
regulatory regionalism challenges traditional and exclusive territory
conceptions based on the state. Changes from the scale of governance reflect
new changing interests. For example, a regional network in a bureaucratic
institution, community, academia, and the NGO sector competes to provide more
formal and state-centered information to develop regions. In this sense,
certain methodological nationalisms have captured the concept of territory for
too long� (Jayasuriya, 2008). �
�� Natural resources, including marine
resources, are important because they function as life support for people in
the Indian Ocean region, especially in the coastal areas. However, the natural
resources in the Indian Ocean are concentrated in only a part of the area.
Although mineral resources are diverse and abundant, especially in South
Africa, India, Indonesia, and Australia, energy resources are of more interest.
�� Currently, the security of the Indian Ocean
has become a dynamic matter and is no longer the domain of a colonial or
superpower country. Countries like India and China have become new and
significant powers, and new national alliances are changing the situation.
However, the current global reality has created a maritime security problem
because non-state actors directly and fundamentally influence security in the
region. This is a serious development because maritime trade in the rich Indian
Ocean region, which includes most of the world's energy trade, is vital to the
global economy. It seems that many lessons from centuries ago are being
re-learned - instead of engaging in combat, the navy should project power and
play a diplomatic role in maintaining order at sea.
�� The maritime security environment in the
Indian Ocean is undergoing a considerable transformation. This is because the
structure of regional governance that can be categorized is quite weak and the
capacity to control marine areas is limited, which causes all kinds of illegal
activities to start developing in many areas in the Indian Ocean. This in turn
leads to greater regional maritime security challenges and is influenced by key
variables such as the militarization of the region, the involvement of large
and extra-regional powers, and non-traditional security threats (Potgieter, 2012).
�� The
Indian Ocean has several global laws, projects, and program plans in the
region. However, according to several sources, these activities are rarely
followed by all countries concerned or those dealing with food security or
fisheries throughout the region. There are only a few large countries and
including active countries in the region included in it. This is, of course,
very different when compared to the Pacific Islands region, where the region
has collective and collaborative activities involving regional agencies, a
common practice even in small countries. The Indian Ocean generally lacks
ownership of a regionally relevant initiative. It appears that the direct flow
of international treaties has been exacerbated by the scarcity of existing
organizations and instruments (Techera & Appadoo, 2020).
�� When other regions worldwide have developed
quite significant joint activities in the context of environmental security
initiatives, the Indian Ocean region tends not to have an effective legal and
policy framework in dealing with this problem. However, several countries in
the Indian Ocean that share the same concerns over non-traditional security
challenges in the region make contributions that are considered quite ideal.
�� Because the countries on the coast of the
Indian Ocean cannot handle the multitude of maritime challenges on their own,
it forces them to synergize their maritime capacities to achieve effective
results. If that's the point, it would be worthwhile to look at the naval
resources at their disposal. While it may not be possible to discuss recent
developments in naval capability in each state, maritime capacity-building
programs to address the significant security challenges of some of the main
coasts of the Indian Ocean deserve a separate mention (Agnihotri, 2016).
�� One of the most widely adopted views of regional security
constructs is that of interest built around the Indian Ocean Territory. This
view calls for a reassessment of the strategic Indian Ocean Territory and the
security challenges facing the region. It can also contribute to developing a
viewpoint on collective security in the Indian Ocean, which is fundamentally
built on maritime regionalism. Basically, the maritime regionalism paradigm is
designed to facilitate regional development and effectively deal with various
security challenges, which are non-traditional in nature. Non-state threats are
the main focus and also include piracy and terrorism, as well as non-traditional
threats. -traditional was related to how the sea is used. It is also related to
maritime security issues, which directly affect environmental security and
exploitation of economic activities at sea (Rumley et al., 2012).
�� Environmental issues, which are a major part
of non-traditional security issues, become important. This is because the
environment has a direct relationship with human rights, which includes
discussing human life. While the periodic adoption of agreements, declarations,
and communiqu�s by international organizations should be critically assessed
for their contribution to tangible results, this agreement has indeed supported
increased cooperation and brought a clearer focus in the case of IORA to the
organization's agenda.
�� The
problem related to the challenges in the region is the extent to which IORA as
a regional organization can engage and utilize the expertise and
problem-solving processes directly related to IORA priority thematic areas.
Problems include non-traditional threats that can affect the stability and
development of insights. Although IORA has been granted Observer Status at the
United Nations General Assembly and accredited by the AU, there is limited
engagement with other regional and research-oriented policy organizations, such
as the West Indies Marine Sciences Association. This involvement and
collaboration are very promising in contributing to the implementation of the
IORA Action Plan (Benkenstein, 2018).
�� Currently, no framework becomes a reference for various IORA
working groups, including academic groups, nor is there a clear pathway for
researchers who are not identified through political and national focal points
to be involved in IORA activities. It was further noted that IORA 'held several
meetings and workshops which could benefit from increased academic engagement
but were usually attended by government officials with limited or no feedback
shared with the wider national community (du Plessis et al., 2018). �Even though there is no specific framework
used as a benchmark, there are several efforts by countries in the Indian Ocean
in facing maritime challenges, especially non-traditional security challenges.
India-Sri Lanka and the
Maldives carried out a synergistic initiative in July 2013, namely the
'Maritime Security Cooperation Agreement.' This has great potential for further
collaborative efforts. The main objective is to face traditional and
non-traditional maritime challenges. During a 'state visit' to these countries
in March 2015, the Indian Prime Minister urged Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and
Mauritius to become India's important partners' in exploiting these
possibilities collectively. The maritime agencies of these countries, in turn,
will benefit from sharing India's expertise, experience, and technological know-how
in a common operating environment. With the Maldives already joining, the
growing pattern suggests that this nascent venture's success - and there is no
reason to believe otherwise could serve as a model for subsequent replication
in other IOR littoral contexts, which are also limited (Agnihotri, 2016).
The
increasing importance of the Indian Ocean region provides a further discourse
in building greater and more beneficial regional security cooperation,
especially for countries such as India and Australia. To enhance bilateral
security cooperation with major regional powers at the multilateral level,
Australia must enhance this partnership by capitalizing on the challenges posed
by non-traditional aspects as a practice that promotes better and cooperative
IOR security. Non-traditional security challenges such as transnational
terrorism and piracy characterize the IOR security environment requiring
long-term collective defense. Non-traditional challenges, however, have
established a major focal point for sustainable regional security cooperation (Phillips, 2013).
�� In
addition to the synergy spearheaded by India, countries in the southern African
region also synergize the grouping of the South African Development Community
(SADC) consisting of 14 countries from mainland South Africa, some of which are
also in the Indian Ocean region and mostly controlled by South Africa. . The
forum, which was founded in 1992, has an active 'Standing Maritime Committee,'
which envisions sub-regional peace through shared maritime security and
maintains the maritime capacity to meet contingencies that require rapid
response. Besides, the main focus is to ensure economic development and
regional security (Teuteberg, n.d.). �
Conclusion
Non-traditional challenges in
maintaining the health of our oceans are critical to note. This is because it
is directly related to life on earth, human life, or others. Therefore, the
inclusion of an SDG that focuses specifically on the oceans is a welcome step
forward. The Indian Ocean, as an area of concern at this time, is, of course,
expected to have a special role. Although there is no main framework that
regulates these non-traditional problems, countries in the region have
synergies to face the existing challenges. Several collaborations carried out
by pioneer countries, such as sustainable fisheries management, are a key
component to ensure a healthy marine environment. The problem lies in the
implementation of focused programs and targeted interventions to meet targets. Thus, the greatest challenge
to maritime security in the Indian Ocean as a region focuses primarily on the
fact that these factors are largely overlapping and mixed and forming different
patterns and creating local situations that are very complex and require
detailed understanding. As a recommendation, countries in the Indian Ocean
region need a collective guideline to share maritime data, starting with the
ease with which countries in the region can access information about
transnational security challenges. It is also important for countries in the
region to map the risks that are directly related to environmental stability in
the Indian Ocean to help understand and anticipate the security consequences of
a climate phenomenon. Each country in the IORA needs to promote an integrated
national maritime domain awareness system in the Indian Ocean for better
synergies to achieve environmentally sustainable goals.
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