Farhan Iqbal 70112728

Current Affairs-B Mam Ayesha Ashfaq

Last Assignment
Current Maritime threats to Pakistan

What are the maritime security threats we face today?

Piracy and armed robbery; terrorism; drug trafficking and trafficking in nuclear materials and
firearms; human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants; illegal activities in the fisheries
sector; waste trafficking, and intentional and unlawful damage to the marine environment: all
represent acute challenges to global
Maritime threats
Presently the biggest of all threats is our self-created issue of pollution along the coastal belts
especially in Karachi. The threats to our Maritime security is pollution coming through different
means e.g. the garbage of whole Karachi mixes into Arabian sea through the dirty flows of Lyari
Nadi. The industrial effluent, sewage disposal and oil discharges are the major security threats to
the marine life and Marine trade. In short the trash coming from the whole Karachi is becoming a
security hazard for all users of this blue economy. Back in old days our sea was clean devoid of
any impurities and pollutants. The invention and innovation in plastic industry, frozen food
industry, fertilizers industries, use of electronic gadgets, medical waste of plastic surgical
syringes and injections, x-rays has devastatingly affected our simple life into complicated one.
Everything is available in plastic bags and these bags are not dissolvable and put a layer on the
surface of sea depriving marine creature from getting oxygen and sunlight. The oil spills is
hindering our marine life by disturbing the water cycle. Even if our Karachi port is compared
with other ports of the third world countries we are the worst.

The over fishing, plastic disposable of contaminated waste, resource competition,The industrial
complexes around Karachi, the ship breaking industry, coastal power plants, the Steel Mill
complex and oil refineries all contribute significantly to the pollution problem.

In Pakistan, however, there is a pervasive maritime oblivion – which urgently requires to be

addressed. Some aspects of this oblivion are: sea blindness, land-locked thinking and agrarian
mindset, which has cumulatively kept the masses gaze away from sea and its importance.
Unfortunately, Pakistan is yet to witness a leader who brings positive impact towards maritime.
Maritime security: challenges

3 years ago

Pakistan has a strategic stake in peaceful navigation and security of Indian Ocean region. Our

interests emanate from our coastline that is over 1000 kilometers long, an Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) of around 300,000 square kilometers, the Karachi port and the newly built deep sea
port of Gwadar. And to add to this complex scenario, today, the Indian Ocean faces many non-
traditional security challenges and threats including piracy, illegal fishing, human trafficking,
drug smuggling, trafficking of weapons and above all maritime pollution. The militarization of
the Indian Ocean region, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, increased missile
capabilities and power projection by foreign militaries are a threat to peace in the Indian Ocean
Region. And this trend is likely to intensify in the coming years.

At the same time, the Indian Ocean also contains some of the world’s most important choke
points, notably the Straits of Hormuz, Malacca, and the Bab el Mandeb. The strategic importance
of these choke points for global trade and energy flows means that a number of extra-regional
states have decided to maintain their naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
To counter the threats being radiated from extra regional forces and neighboring countries would
probably take much of the budget and time to raise our Navy from present Navy to Blue Water
Navy.

 Threat of Terrorism and Security of Ocean Trade: What Contribution Can the Pakistan
Navy Make?

In recent years, sea-borne terrorism has emerged as a major security threat in littoral-Asia. Since
the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai—when ten Pakistani terrorists infiltrated the city from
the sea, killing 166 people and injuring over 300—regional watchers have been wary of the
possibility of another attack from the seas. Within India’s security establishment, the anxiety has
been palpable. In November 2018, a few weeks shy of the tenth anniversary of the Mumbai
attacks, intelligence emerged that Pakistan-based militant outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-
Mohammed had been training their cadres to execute another strike on Indian ports, cargo ships
and oil tankers.[1]Reportedly, Pakistani militant commanders had been training volunteers at
modified training sites and canals in Lahore and Faisalabad for “samundari jihad” (seaborne
jihad). Unlike 26/11, when terrorists had used the sea route to enter Mumbai and stage attacks on
land targets, the plan this time around was to deploy trained jihadi divers to target an Indian or
coastal facility.[2]

The anticipated assault did not happen. Yet the speculation that surrounded its possible
occurrence underscored the psychological grip of terrorism over the minds of Indian security
watchers and strategic planners.[3] Indian fears seem partly driven by events in Pakistan, where
there have been two major militant attacks on naval installations in recent years.[4]In May 2011,
the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al Qaeda attacked PNS Mehran, the headquarters of the
Pakistan Navy’s air arm and the most populous Pakistani naval establishment. Although the
attack was not strictly “maritime” (as it neither came from the sea, nor targeted maritime assets),
it was seen as an escalation by terrorists against a seagoing force.[5] In September 2014, when
Al Qaeda attacked Karachi, it set off alarm bells in New Delhi, leading many to seriously
consider the possibility of a terrorist attack in India’s near-seas.

Reference,

https://www.orfonline.org/research/maritime-terrorism-in-asia-an-assessment-56581/?amp