Even with much broader utility, the term “Maritime Security” is still in need of international consensus to define itself. Maritime Security is a generic term which engulfs “the concepts of national security, prevention of transnational threats and dangers, sustenance of marine environment and promotion of ocean economy.” The term surfaced to the political horizon in 2000s’ when the dangers regarding probable marine terrorism loomed after the 9/11 incidents and when Somalian coasts became notorious for perpetual piracy incidents during the 2008-2012 era. With time, the concept has become fairly relevant in recent age for all the good and bad reasons. The emerging importance of CPEC’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Route (Gwadar port), Blue Economy, global quest for natural resources and conflicts in South-China sea and the Arctic waters along with the increase in threats of illicit drug and human trafficking, illegal transportation of SALW and unconventional weapons, degradation of environment, piracy, systematic robberies, maritime terrorism and accidents, illicit fishing, etc. has squeezed maritime security into the national security priority for each state.

Why is there a need for International Legal Framework?

With overlapping naval boundaries, sophistication in technology, rise of the entity of non-state actors and transnational crimes, it has become virtually impossible for states to curb the menace of maritime threats individually and without provoking or threatening the other states’ security. However, through coordinated regional and global frameworks, states can try, prosecute and convict the perpetrators effectively, and protect their maritime interests not just from criminals and terrorists but, also from other states violating or trespassing their sovereignty.

What is the current International Maritime Framework?

There is no single universally defined legal framework to counter maritime threats and resolve maritime conflicts. However, a number of conventions, treaties, declarations collectively amount to a universal maritime order, which is topped by the:

1. United Nations Convention on the Laws of Seas (UNCLOS)
The UNCLOS is an all-inclusive document which extends the international law into seas and provides clarity into a number of sea concepts and the limitations imposed within each state’s jurisdiction, recognized and accepted through universal consensus. There are three subdivisions of UNCLOS namely:

• The International Seabed Authority (ISA)
which is responsible for the regulation, organization and supervision of mineral extraction related activities).
• The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)
which is responsible for resolving maritime conflicts over the interpretation issues of UNCLOS along with rendering legal assistance.
• The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)
which is responsible for implementation of UNCLOS regarding continental shelf outside 200 nm.
These agencies further improve the implementation of UN laws of the sea, help resolve conflicts, and contribute to the overall security situation of the maritime environment.
Other than UNCLOS, other contributing legal frameworks are;

2. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts (SUA):
which provides a framework to prosecute and punish the offenders convicted of crimes in seas.
3. The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS):
which aims to enhance the security of the ships and ports through cooperation at governmental and local levels.
4. Convention for the Safety of Life at Seas (SOLAS)
which regulates the security of ships regarding accidental threats by setting up certain standards of ship’s infrastructure, safety measures and construction.
5. UN Firearms Protocol
which prevents the smuggling and illicit trafficking of SALW at sea.
6. World Customs Organization (WCO)

which ensure safety and security of global trade and movement of goods by establishing certain standards.

How these Conventions and Protocols add to a State’s Security?

The above mentioned conventions and treaties are a part of the universally recognized legal framework for improving the maritime security and ensuring safety against transnational threats. They improve a state’s security by

1. Ensuring Cooperation and Coordination among different states which eliminates mistrust among the member countries and provides prospects for a shared future.
2. Improves a State’s international standing.
3. States can take actions against the actors inciting conflict without threatening each other’s security.
4. States can ratify and incorporate maritime laws into their respective legal system which can provide as the basis of trials against smugglers, pirates, non-state actors.
5. These conventions promote stability and development of marine peace and security.

Another paradigm through which states’ security enhances through international legal framework is through the dispute resolution methods is they offer.

1. Diplomacy (The signing of the Declaration of Conduct 2002 between ASEAN members and China in South China Sea is a proof how diplomacy works to manage a truce between ongoing conflicts)
2. Arbitration through courts (as Cambodia and Thailand referred to ICJ over SCS dispute and Bangladesh and Myanmar referred to Tribunal of International Law of Sea as got it resolved).
3. Through practical interim arrangements (as Japan and China reached to develop a gas field in Chinxiao/Shirabaka though only short lived).

When states act through these, they not only avoid confrontation but, enhance their own security by reinforcing their claims through signed documents, pacts, treaties

How will it protect Pakistan’s Security?

Pakistan’s maritime security is an important aspect of national security because of the addition of Gwadar sea port and CPEC. Sitting at the mouth of Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz being only 400 km away, Gwadar is said to have potential of being the center of global maritime trade, connecting Central and South Asia, Africa, Middle East and Gulf . According to Vice Admiral (R) Irfan Ahmed (2015) of Pakistan Navy that “around 17-Million-barrel Oil passes through Strait of Hormuz daily, around 3.5 Million through Bab al Mandeb, approximately 15-Million-barrel oil passes towards Far East routes”. Pakistan’s maritime security is at much high stake due to a number of reasons, increased interference of CIA, RAW, MOSSAD and Afghani National Directorate of Security (NDS), escalated Baloch insurgency, wave of TTP’s re-emergence and other non-state actors (Al-Qaeda, LTTE, BLA, BLF) and internal threats including insurgents, smuggling, mismanagement, corruption can cause millions.
The international maritime legal framework can improve Pakistan’s security in terms of Gwadar port which is an important strategic outlook for surveillance of SLOC. Therefore, Pakistan’s maritime security in deeply entrenched with China’s, Middle East and Africa’s security due to the close proximity of strategic straits and gulfs. As put by Iftikhar, Arabian Sea’s lanes are the life lines for many states as their energy shipments and other commodities pass through. And Port of Gwadar in connection would require an effective mechanism of maritime security governance for safe and secure sea operations.
Being a part of internally recognized legal maritime framework, Pakistan can gain in terms of;

• Ensuring peace and stability between the two major stakeholders of Indian Ocean, India and China.
• Pakistan can extend its network of naval surveillance and patrolling over the Indian Ocean through shared naval forces of neighboring states an apt example of which is the Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 which is operating in the seas through network of collaboration between 30 nations.
• The framework can ensure constitutional safeguards for Pakistan’s maritime security forces, naval forces and customs authority. It can improve the legal prosecution against the criminal offenders.
• Increase Pakistan’s circle of multilateral cooperation regionally as well as internationally.

Conclusion:

Maritime peace and security, though a phenomenon existing ever since, has today become a tool of security and prosperity for every state and for Pakistan as well which has newly endorsed itself into the gigantic maritime sector owing to its inclusion in China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Route and has quickly become an important aspect of the security of Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. However, with great power comes great responsibility. Pakistan’s security could either be endangered or enhanced manifolds depending upon its strategy over the seas and with involvement in the international maritime legal system, can Pakistan earn much more diplomatically and w.r.t security and peace as compared to its individual course. So, to promote its softer image and to embolden one’s naval security, cooperating and coordinating at regional and international level has to be the key.