Can India become a maritime Power...can it boast of tonnage that few nations can?
I've been wondering on this question within my mind for quite some time. It is not easy to answer. On the face value of what we know of Indian politicos, the answer is "No". But, looking closely at the success story, that India has been in the last six decades, it is very much understandable that the driving force for the growth is not the governance, but the people. India has grown up as a Peaceful nation, tolerant society and as much as anyone might comment on the problems in India, the Indians have always been able to break the shackles of wrong practices.
Coming back to the original question of India becoming a maritime power...let's look at who are the leaders in any terms.
The world's largest maritime country is Panama. In 2010, 8080 vessels sailed under its flag.
Their dead-weight was 194.4 million tons. The second largest maritime country is Liberia (2448 vessesls, 89.3 million tons), the third is the Marshall Islands (50.7 million tons). Greece and Cyprus of Europe make it to the top ten.
Denmark stands at fifth place. Norway has a place of its own.
Wikipedia online database gives a great write up for Flag of Convenience registries. The biggest problem with the FOCs is their being unable to excercise adequate control.
India can increase her maritime tonnage, if due consideration is given to nominate Andaman Nicobar and Lakshwadeep Islands as an open registry with the good features of such open registries, like taxation benefits, while also maintaining the control using India's might as a large nation. Goes without saying, India has no dearth of talent and it is not rocket science to understand the functioning of an open registry.
The question is, without political will, is it possible to do so? But then, as written in Shastras, Indians are banned from crossing oceans! So unfortunately a decent shipping Minister, who really knows what is Maritime world all about is still at large.
If India is able to expand its presence in the Indian Ocean - Arabian Sea, the nuisense of piracy in Arabian sea can be addressed and will act as deterrent for expansion plans of pirates.
I've been wondering on this question within my mind for quite some time. It is not easy to answer. On the face value of what we know of Indian politicos, the answer is "No". But, looking closely at the success story, that India has been in the last six decades, it is very much understandable that the driving force for the growth is not the governance, but the people. India has grown up as a Peaceful nation, tolerant society and as much as anyone might comment on the problems in India, the Indians have always been able to break the shackles of wrong practices.
Coming back to the original question of India becoming a maritime power...let's look at who are the leaders in any terms.
The world's largest maritime country is Panama. In 2010, 8080 vessels sailed under its flag.
Their dead-weight was 194.4 million tons. The second largest maritime country is Liberia (2448 vessesls, 89.3 million tons), the third is the Marshall Islands (50.7 million tons). Greece and Cyprus of Europe make it to the top ten.
Denmark stands at fifth place. Norway has a place of its own.
Wikipedia online database gives a great write up for Flag of Convenience registries. The biggest problem with the FOCs is their being unable to excercise adequate control.
India can increase her maritime tonnage, if due consideration is given to nominate Andaman Nicobar and Lakshwadeep Islands as an open registry with the good features of such open registries, like taxation benefits, while also maintaining the control using India's might as a large nation. Goes without saying, India has no dearth of talent and it is not rocket science to understand the functioning of an open registry.
The question is, without political will, is it possible to do so? But then, as written in Shastras, Indians are banned from crossing oceans! So unfortunately a decent shipping Minister, who really knows what is Maritime world all about is still at large.
If India is able to expand its presence in the Indian Ocean - Arabian Sea, the nuisense of piracy in Arabian sea can be addressed and will act as deterrent for expansion plans of pirates.
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