Addressing maritime security challenges through maritime domain awareness: a study of the role of the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region

In recent years, many non-traditional maritime safety and security threats viz. piracy, armed robberies at sea, maritime terrorism, human trafficking, drugs trafficking, illicit trafficking in wildlife, illegal deals in weapons, IUU fishing, dilapidation of ocean health and illegal exploitation of sea resources, etc. have emerged as real and serious challenges not only to the commercial shipping but also to the national security. A comprehensive response from the worldwide seafaring community is the need of the hour to tackle these maritime threats, both natural and man-made. India's initiative of establishing the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in the year 2018 can be regarded as a significant step in dealing with the variety of maritime security challenges. Jointly managed and run by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, the IFC-IOR fulfils the purpose of creating Maritime Domain Awareness on the issues pertaining to maritime safety and security. Protecting maritime interests and augmenting security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is indispensable for maintaining free navigation and overflight, unconstrained commerce and a free, open and UNCLOS-based regime in the IOR.