Is Indian Ocean India's ocean?

The US torpedoed an Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, near Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, sparking an intense debate over India's role and responsibility in the strategic waters. Does the Indian Ocean mean India's ocean? What about India's maritime jurisdiction and its role as the guardian of the Indian Ocean?

There are five oceans in the world and the Indian Ocean is the only one to be named after a country. But to what extent does India have its maritime jurisdiction in the Indian Ocean? This question comes in the wake of the escalation of the Iran war in India's strategic backyard, where a US Navy submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena on Wednesday morning. There is intense debate on India's role and responsibility in waters that India considers itself a guardian of.

At the outset we need to get one thing clear. The IRIS Dena, which was returning after a naval drill in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, was torpedoed in international waters, where India doesn't have any jurisdiction.

Defence analysts said the sinking of the Iranian warship has brought the Iran war to India's doorstep. The incident occurred about 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka, in what US officials described as international waters. Regardless, the attack occurred not far from India's shores.

The Indian Ocean is named after India due to the country's geographical centrality. The Indian peninsula juts into the ocean, which spans about 70 million square kilometres, connecting Asia, Africa, and Australia. Historically, the ocean was referred to in the Indian context.

But despite the name, it's not India's private domain. The ocean is shared space, governed by international law. Coastal nations assert only limited claims to the ocean.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982 and ratified by over 160 countries, the Indian Ocean is divided into zones with varying degrees of control.