Journal of the Indian Ocean Region

ISSN: 1948-0881 (Print) 1948-108X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rior20

The Indian Ocean Dialogue: a new forum for

Indian Ocean maritime security

David Brewster

To cite this article: David Brewster (2016) The Indian Ocean Dialogue: a new forum
for Indian Ocean maritime security, Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 12:1, 2-4, DOI:
10.1080/19480881.2016.1138715

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19480881.2016.1138715

Published online: 22 Feb 2016.

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JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION, 2016
VOL. 12, NO. 1, 2–4
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19480881.2016.1138715

EDITORIAL

The Indian Ocean Dialogue: a new forum for Indian Ocean

maritime security

This issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region includes a selection of papers from the
second Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD) held in Perth in September 2015. The Dialogue was
opened by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, and was attended by 80 gov-
ernment officials and representatives from civil society, drawn from 17 Member States of the
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), four Dialogue Partners, and Observers.
Held under the auspices of IORA, the Dialogue is an emerging Track 1.5 forum that brings
together representatives of strategic and foreign policy communities to discuss maritime-
related issues as part of the emergence of a vibrant Indian Ocean community. The participants
in this year’s Dialogue discussed six key themes: cooperation in combating maritime transna-
tional crime; maritime security and regional defence cooperation; regional cooperation in
search and rescue; Blue Economy; countering illegal fishing; and cooperation in humanitarian
and disaster relief.
This issue of the JIOR includes two articles and three research notes representing a broad
cross-section of the matters discussed at the IOD: covering issues as diverse as maritime gov-
ernance structures; international maritime law; multilateral security cooperation mechanisms;
maritime transnational crime and the Blue Economy.
In ‘Maritime Governance in the Indian Ocean’, Dr Sam Bateman, a former Commodore with
the Royal Australian Navy, gives us a tour of existing maritime governance mechanisms in the
Indian Ocean, discussing the experience in regional maritime security governance at the
national, sub-regional, and regional levels, particularly in comparison with the experience in
East Asia. Bateman makes the following key observations:

. There has been an increasing ‘de-militarisation’ of the concept of maritime security in peace-
time and increased use of non-military agencies such as coast guards. For many maritime
security tasks, coast guards can be cost effective and do not carry the political sensitivities
associated with navies.
. IORA should consider sponsoring an inclusive Indian Ocean maritime security regime that
focuses on the civil dimensions of maritime security. Such a regime could potentially be
modelled on the existing Heads of Asian Coast Guard forum. It should include the main
extra-regional stakeholders as members and should leverage off existing sub-regional
forums concerned with maritime security. Capacity building for less well-equipped countries
should be one of the regime’s objectives.
. Sub-regional maritime security governance is better developed in the western Indian Ocean
as compared with the east. Bateman proposes the establishment of a sub-regional maritime
security governance arrangement that focuses on the eastern Indian Ocean.

In ‘Towards a More Effective Counter-drugs regime in the Indian Ocean’ Dr Rob McLaughlin
of the Australian National University tackles the legal issues surrounding the interdiction of
drugs being trafficked across the western Indian Ocean and the need to find a better ‘legal

© 2016 Indian Ocean Research Group

 JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION 3

finish.’ McLaughlin describes the growing popularity of the so-called ‘Southern Route’ across
the Indian Ocean for smuggling heroin produced in Afghanistan to Europe and the United
States. A significant proportion of the profits of this trade funds terrorist activities throughout
the region. But the grounds in international law under which maritime law enforcement auth-
orities may stop and search vessels suspected of transporting illegal drugs or prosecute their
crews are highly limited. This restricts the number of vessels interdicted and frequently pre-
vents prosecution. McLaughlin argues in favour of three practical options to achieve a better
legal finish:

. Make Indian Ocean drugs trafficking more overtly a counter-terrorism issue. The UN Security
Council should describe the Indian Ocean heroin trade as a means of financing terrorist
operations in Afghanistan and use existing Chapter VII powers to authorise maritime law
enforcement authorities to interdict any vessel suspected of drug trafficking, and potentially
also exert law enforcement jurisdiction over their crews.
. Robustly assert follow-on jurisdiction in relation to unflagged or multiple flagged vessels.
McLaughlin argues that as a matter of practice, States can and should assert the right to
assert national follow-on legal jurisdiction over unflagged vessels. This would best be exer-
cised through cooperation of a group of States.
. Create an effective legal process for dealing with flagged vessels. This would involve
arrangements between a network of States to create agreed procedures for boarding and
prosecution of traffickers; and regional arrangements giving authority to regional ‘prosecut-
ing’ States to accept traffickers for investigation and prosecution.

In ‘Multilateral Maritime Security Cooperation in the Indian Ocean region: Status and Pro-
spects‘, Shishir Upadhyaya, a former Commander in the Indian Navy, describes some recent
examples of multilateral maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean. He then focuses
on some perceived weaknesses in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and suggests
several initiatives that IONS could pursue. These include:

. Sponsoring the creation of a pan-Indian Ocean information sharing grid.

. Increased interaction with the commercial shipping industry, including formulating uniform
rules of engagement with armed guards and guidelines for floating armouries operating on
the high seas, a common reporting system for incidents at sea and demarcation of high-risk
areas for insurance purposes.
. Formal engagement with the Heads of Asian Coast Guards Meeting (HACGM) to build con-
sensus around common issues.
. Seeking to use the Indian-sponsored Milan naval exercises as a ‘test bed’ for common drills
and procedures to be adopted by IONS member navies.

In ‘Combating Maritime Transnational Crime: An Australian Perspective’, Rear Admiral Mike

Noonan, Commander of Australia’s Border Protection Command, describes Australia’s experi-
ence in establishing the Maritime Border Command as the maritime law enforcement arm of
the Australian Border Force. Noonan then describes Australia’s experience in combating
three key maritime security threats: illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing, assisted
illegal migration, and maritime counter-terrorism. Noonan makes the following points in
particular:

. The strong connection between IUU fishing and maritime organised crime, including the use
of fishing smuggling operations for other purposes.
4 EDITORIAL

. The connections between people smuggling and organised crime.

. The role of Australia’s Maritime Border Command in coordinating and leveraging the
response of multiple Australian agencies against the threat of maritime-based terrorism.
. The necessity for enhanced cooperation among maritime decision-making and enforce-
ment agencies at a domestic and at a regional level.

In ‘A roadmap to a sustainable Indian Ocean Blue Economy’, Dr Lyndon Llewellyn and his
colleagues from the Australian Institute of Marine Science discuss key Blue Economy opportu-
nities in the Indian Ocean, focusing on areas such as aquaculture, marine mining, offshore oil &
gas, shipping and ports, marine leisure and tourism and the digital Blue Economy. The paper
recommends that Indian Ocean states adopt the following key principles in relation to the Blue
Economy:

. Greater collaboration, including with industry

. The development of more robust legal and governance regimes
. The adoption of marine-specific policies
. Integrated regional scale planning
. Sharing of skills, data, and knowledge

These papers represent a valuable contribution to the conversation about maritime-related

issues across the Indian Ocean region. Notwithstanding the diversity of issues addressed by
them, an abiding theme of all the papers is that the problems and opportunities faced in
the maritime realm can only be properly addressed through much enhanced regional
cooperation and coordination. It is hoped that the IOD will continue to evolve as an important
forum that brings together all stakeholders in Indian Ocean maritime issues as one part of a
bigger exercise in building a stronger Indian Ocean regional identity.

David Brewster
National Security College, Australian National University