Like every proposal becoming a victim of the cold-war between the bureaucracy and the armed forces, the Indian Navy's decade-old proposal of having a three-star officer as the Maritime Security Adviser (MSA), too seems to have been caught up again in the bureaucratic ego-tussle and is gathering dust. The proposal which was primarily aimed at policy coordination between agencies using the sea was first put up about a decade ago, and the need for it was reiterated post-Kargil.But 26/11 brought to the fore the very question of regulation and coordination of as many as 17 agencies which use oceanic spaces whose policies and traffic needed coherent cohesiveness, the lack of which perhaps resulted in the unpleasant situation.
The Mumbai terror attacks could've been avoided or atleast the chances of it lessened if the MSA came into existence prior to it, said a source. The file is gathering dust with the Government, and the Navy is hopeful that it would be sorted out soon.
The MSA would directly report to the National Security Adviser (NSA)-PMO, after taking into account the agreements and dissents of representatives of these agencies forming a Maritime Security Advisory Board (MSAB). These agencies are Ministries of Home, Health, Earth Sciences, Agriculture, Fisheries, Shipping, Finance, Petroleum, Deep Sea Mining, Indian Coast Guard, Customs department and the Navy.
The three-star officer would have a staff under him to coordinate and assist.
The name doing the rounds for the post is that of Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan.
Sources have indicated that the NSA's office is uncomfortable with the creation of the new post as it is seen as a parallel power, while others have said that bureaucrats from these Ministries and departments are not comfortable reporting to a naval officer, hence the file has been sent back to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), with appropriate reasons for the rejection of the proposal.
