Page 8 - The Indian EYE 070822

OPINION JULY 08, 2022 | The Indian Eye 8

Quad’s Maritime Domain Awareness

Initiative Needs Time to Deliver

Given the vast expanse of the ocean and resources required for comprehensive surveillance at sea, a collaborative

approach for information-sharing and domain awareness has remained a major ask. The end goal is to develop
among like-minded countries a shared understanding of developments and threats at sea

SHRUTI PANDALAI & The leaders of Quad nations at their recent Summit in Tokyo (ANI Photo/PIB)
ABHAY KUMAR SINGH
maritime boundaries. Dialogue in New Delhi. For a group- ty-building measures like IPDMA
he Quad is often criticized for China’s muscle-flexing in the ing like the ASEAN, which finds it- could augment strength.
underplaying its security agen- South China Sea was discussed by self at the receiving end of the strate-
Tda for the greater good of con- India and the ASEAN leaders during gic fallout of US–China competition AIMS OF THE IPMDA
sensus-building. The Tokyo Summit the recently held Foreign Ministers’ and Chinese belligerence, capaci- Simply put, Maritime Domain
in May 2020 may have changed that, Awareness (MDA) is about having
with an announcement which is being comprehensive position and inten-
seen as a clearest signal yet to China tions of all actors at sea in the given
on its aggressive tactics at sea. area of interest. This requires cre-
A collaborative effort by the US, ation of compilation, correlation and
India, Japan and Australia—the In- fusion of surveillance data collected
do-Pacific Maritime Domain Aware- from diverse sources, i.e., satellites,
ness (IPMDA) Initiative—is aimed radar, reconnaissance planes or hu-
at delivering on the promised goals man intelligence, in order to detect
of enhancing maritime security and and identify actors with irregular or
shared domain awareness in the re- threatening behavior.
gion via technology and training sup- Given the vast expanse of the
port. Capacity-building of regional ocean and resources required for
countries to guard against Chinese comprehensive surveillance at sea, a
misadventures near their waters, in collaborative approach for informa-
essence, is the focus of this effort. tion-sharing and domain awareness
South East Asia is among the has remained a major ask. The end
key focus regions of this initiative. goal is to develop among like-mind-
The White House read-out outlines ed countries a shared understanding
that the IPMDA will share commer- of developments and threats at sea.
cially available satellite data and alert The key to this line of effort is
smaller Southeast Asian states on to link up existing regional collabo-
possible territorial intrusions or illicit ration mechanisms which are already
activity such as illegal fishing, smug- The South China Sea remains a bone of contention for the countries in the region
gling or piracy in waters within their Continued at next page... >>

www.TheIndianEYE.com