People live on land and are well versed with the way security works where there is ground under one’s feet. The sea is an alien environment.
There are no roads, physical borders, traffic signs or police on the beat. The philosophy of operations and hence, concepts of security, on land and on and over the sea are vastly different. Over land, it is all about preserving territorial integrity, denial of space to inimical elements and access control. Over the sea, it is about freedom and unhindered access. The sea is a ‘common good’ for all of humanity and hence the rules are different.
Land has well-defined borders, marked and guarded. Even where they are not so clear, there is a sense of territorial ownership, albeit opportune, in concepts such as the Line of Control, Line of Actual Control and Working Boundary. At sea there are no such things. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) segregates maritime zones broadly into four categories. For the moment, it will suffice to understand that there is something called a ‘baseline’ along the coast from where measurements are taken.
*Internal waters are those that lie landward of the baseline.
*Territorial waters extend till 12 nautical miles from the baseline over which the coastal state exercises national
Denne historien er fra December 31, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra December 31, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
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When trees hold hands
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Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.