Blue economy opportunities are significant: NDA Commandant
Pune Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA), has stated that the opportunities for the ‘blue economy’ in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) are significant, and India has a bright future in the sector
Pune
Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA), has stated that the opportunities for the ‘blue economy’ in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) are significant, and India has a bright future in the sector.
Kochhar was recently speaking during the second session of the four-workshop series titled ‘Institutionalised Skilling Ecosystems for Advanced Realization of Sagar Vision’ to drive the Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) framework at the College of Engineering, Pune.
He spoke on the topic ‘Maritime Governance and Matters Maritime’.
Lt Gen (Retd) D B Shekatkar, chairman of POSHS Metal Industries Vikram Puri, MRC founder-director Commander (Retd) Arnab Das, and MRC advisor Praful Talera were all present during the event.
Vice Admiral Kochhar remarked that of late the Arabian Sea has become a hotbed of narcotics.
“Narco-terrorism is a new security challenge that has recently emerged, particularly in our context on the western seaboard. The Arabian Sea has recently become a narcotics hotspot. All of the supply lines are coming from our neighbourhood, and the narcotics are being landed across multiple Indian Ocean nation-states. And the funds generated are being used to fund terrorism,” said Kochhar.
Underwater domain awareness, according to the senior Naval official, is also a major challenge, and he outlined the areas that require maritime governance and responsible resource management.
“As a result, effectively harnessing the blue economy, sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improving livelihoods, and job creation while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem by preventing overfishing, protecting marine biodiversity, and reducing pollution in the ocean also necessitates maritime governance and responsible resource management,” Kochhar stated.
Lt Gen (retd) D B Shekatkar, who led a committee of experts appointed by the Ministry of Defence, delivered the opening remarks, emphasising the importance of maritime security. The former Army officer also stated that India should make efforts to preserve its resources in the EEZ.
