India to appoint National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security

The National Maritime Security Coordinator will break the silos and cut across the turf of Navy, Coast Guard, State Maritime Boards to enhance maritime domain awareness and ensure better response. The Chinese forays into Indian Ocean via Pakistan and Myanmar will be on top of NMSC agenda.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in MiG-29K cockpit onboard INS Vikramaditya in June 2014.

Two decades after the Kargil Group of Ministers' recommendation, the Narendra Modi government is all set to create and appoint a National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) to interface between the civilian and military maritime domain with the objective of enhancing security architecture and energy security of India. The Maritime Security Coordinator will work under Indian National Security Advisor and be the principal advisor to the government on maritime security domain.According to South Block sources, the Ministry of Defence and Military Affairs has sought Union Cabinet approval for the NMSC post and there is all likelihood that a serving or recently retired Vice Admiral of Indian Navy will be appointed to the job. The NMSC has been a long pending requirement since the Kargil GoM recommended it and its need was most felt during the 2008 Mumbai massacre when 10 Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) gunmen directed by ISI handlers in Karachi intruded into Mumbai and created mayhem with the maritime security agencies like Navy, Coast Guard and Mumbai Port all at sea figuratively. The appointment of NMSC fills the need of the hour as the Navy, Coast Guard and state maritime boards all tend to work in silos with overlapping jurisdictions and are constantly at odds with each other.