PM to chair UNSC high level Open Debate on Enhancing Maritime Security today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high level UN Security Council Open Debate through video conferencing this evening.

Titled, “Enhancing Maritime Security - A Case for International Cooperation”, it will focus on ways to effectively counter maritime crime and insecurity and strengthen coordination in the maritime domain. Several Heads of States and representatives of the United Nations Security Council and key Regional Organisations will attend the dialogue. The event will be broadcast live on the UN Security Council website. A report:

 

For the first time, an Indian Prime Minister will be presiding over a UN Security Council Open Debate.  This will be the first time that maritime security will be discussed in a holistic manner as an exclusive agenda item at such a high level. The theme is Enhancing Maritime Security - A Case for International Cooperation. Oceans have played an important part in India’s history right from the time of the Indus Valley



Civilization.

 

Based on our civilisational ethos that sees the seas as an enabler of shared peace and prosperity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward the vision of SAGAR - an acronym for ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region’ in 2015. This vision focuses on cooperative measures for sustainable use of the oceans. It provides a framework for a safe, secure, and stable maritime domain in the region. 

In 2019, at the East Asia Summit, this initiative was further elaborated through the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative with a focus on seven pillars of maritime security. These include Maritime Ecology, Maritime Resources, Capacity Building and Resource Sharing. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation, and Trade Connectivity and Maritime Transport are the other elements. It is expected that the high level deliberations at UN Security Council will pave the way for a better coordinated maritime security.