Regional Cooperation in Maritime Security: A View From the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

In the realm of maritime security, national interests remain pivotal, nevertheless there has been brewing acceptance of common interest that exists among states when tackling to motley of security threats like piracy, vulnerability of offshore installations and IUU fishing. The willingness among states to create a vibe of cooperation in developing new rules and gilt edge the old rules to fulfill the common interest has been bellowing louder. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka confront both conventional and non-conventional maritime security threats in the Bay of Bengal and thus a regional approach in ocean governance, without infringing states’ sovereignty, is a requisite to address these abseiling threats. The paper emphasizes that to vie the maritime challenges in the Bay of Bengal, three South Asian countries-Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka- need regional approaches for challenging the abseiling situation of piracy and IUU fishing. The challenges of IUU Fishing and piracy that are entwining maritime security in the Bay of Bengal cannot be handled in segregation. Forming an integrated regional maritime resource management system can only ensure maritime security and ocean management in the Bay of Bengal.

Keywords: Maritime Security, Bay of Bengal, Regional Cooperation, South Asia