Book Review: Yogendra Kumar (Ed.), Whither Indian Ocean Maritime Order? Contributions to a Seminar on Narendra Modi’s SAGAR Speech
| Author | Swaran Singh |
| Date | 01 April 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020881718791861 |
| Published date | 01 April 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
202 Book Reviews
nuclear non-proliferation. Since the two non-signatories of the NPT hail from
South Asia, the nuclear energy debate becomes even more interesting. Hence, it is
even more essential that the South-Asian region comes together with a holistic
regulatory regime to exploit nuclear energy in the coming years.
Fifthly, the overarching cost of nuclear technology cannot be ignored. The
authors pit climate liability versus nuclear liability thereby highlighting the
importance of the atom in mitigating carbon emissions. The overnight capital cost
(OCC), a conventional term of calculating costs, of nuclear industry has been
increasing steeply over the years which the Indian policymakers fail to realize.
They should incorporate in the OCC the external costs as well, such as risk com-
munication, co-benefits and co-costs, etc., and also ensure a greater reliance on
domestic technology so that the cost of nuclear power is kept under control.
It would not be wrong to state that the book dismisses some of the major policy
myths about nuclear industry in India. The incisive analysis of the nuclear indus-
try presented in this book is supported by a volume of statistics and data. The
finest details in the book are best represented with the help of diagrams and fig-
ures which give an in-depth understanding to research scholars and academicians.
This book offers a comprehensive understanding of the challenges of the nuclear
industry in the South-Asian region. It is an essential handbook for those trying to
understand the emergence of nuclear industry in Asia.
Swati Prabhu
Doctoral Candidate
Centre for European Studies
School of International Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
E-mail: swati.prabhu6@gmail.com
Yogendra Kumar (Ed.), Whither Indian Ocean Maritime Order?
Contributions to a Seminar on Narendra Modi’s SAGAR Speech
(New Delhi: Knowledge Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2017), 294 pp., `880.
DOI: 10.1177/0020881718791861
In view of exponential acceleration in the global time-and-space-shrink, a human
interface with oceans has witnessed increasing interest on maritime studies and
explorations. Engagements with oceans moved far beyond coastal communities to
include the matters of international trade and security with ‘Blue Economy’
becoming the newest instrument of sustainable development. Given India’s stra-
tegic location astride Indian Ocean, especially its 7,000 km plus coastline and
1,200 plus islands, India’s maritime policy has been integral to Prime Minister
Modi’s hyperactive focus on foreign relations. It is in this context that on the occa-
sion of handing over of an India-built vessel to the Mauritian Coast Guard at Port
Louis on 12 March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, that came to
be known by acronym SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), had
triggered widespread debates on India’s maritime thinking.
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