Regional Maritime Security Course (RMSC) Commences At Naval War College, Goa

In continuation of Indian Navy’s foreign cooperation initiatives, a Regional Maritime Security Course (RMSC) for officers of the rank of Colonel/ equivalent of Maritime Security Agencies from Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs) at Naval War College, Goa commenced Aug 16, 2016 for a duration of eight weeks. The module includes International Relations Theory, International Maritime Law, UNCLOS, Energy and Natural Resources Security, Maritime Domain Awareness, Indian Ocean Studies as well as a table top Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief/ Out of Area Contingency exercise.

The course would provide a concrete forum for developing common understanding of regional maritime security issues, disseminate the IN perspective on the subject, as well as provide an opportunity for IN officers undergoing the Naval Higher Command Course to interact with the foreign participants, and understand the perspectives of regional navies, on issues of common concern.

The Indian Navy (IN), in consonance with the government’s policy of engaging friendly nations, has been at the forefront of building ‘Bridges of Friendship’ with navies from Friendly Foreign Countries (FFCs). Training is one of the most important facets of this engagement. The Indian Navy has been providing training to naval personnel from FFCs over the last five decades, during which the IN has trained more than 13,000 foreign personnel from 42 countries. The training interactions would complement in fulfilling our national objectives of ‘strengthening cooperation and friendship with other countries to promote regional and global stability’.

To start with, invitations were extended to participants from six FFCs, giving due importance and priority to immediate maritime neighbours and IN’s engagement with these FFCs. Accordingly, officers from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, Oman and Sri Lanka have arrived to attend the inaugural Regional Maritime Security Course at Naval War College, Goa. The participant from Indonesia is also likely to join by end of this week.

The conduct of the maiden RMSC is considered to be a ‘shot in the arm’ for naval cooperation initiatives, and would enable better understanding between regional navies at the operational level.