India, part of a land-locked sub-continent, has no option but to emphasise its maritime perspective if it has to attain its destined role in the emerging regional and global order. Despite its inherited continental mindset, Indian elite has, over the decades, taken slow but steady steps in the field of maritime development. India has also learnt the hard lesson that a nation which neglects its maritime defence can even lose its sovereignty. Post-Cold War environment has offered India multiple options to strengthen its maritime security through regional and international cooperation. This has assumed strategic significance in view of the new threat posed by maritime terrorism.

The book evaluates India’s maritime defence capability in the years to come. It also analyses challenges that are likely to be posed as also options that are available to neutralize them.

      Professor K.R. Singh (b.1932) had been teaching in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi till 1997. He was Visiting Professor (2005-06), Chair for Maritime Studies, University of Calicut. His field of specialisation includes West Asia, Indian Ocean Region and strategic studies with special reference to maritime affairs. Professor Singh has written several books and articles dealing with contemporary developments in West Asia, Indian Ocean, naval history of South Asia and also legal dimensions of maritime security.