Treading Turbulent Waters: Pakistan’s Readiness to the Looming Threat of Maritime Terrorism

Houthis’ recent attacks on Merchant ships in the Red Sea haverenewed focus on maritime terrorism. These attacks have pushed the global power centres to think seriously about this intensifying threat to internationalmaritime trade and movement. South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan, have already faced the issue of marine terrorism, yet it has remained primarily a neglected field of enquiry,particularly in Pakistan. This paper aims to fill this void in the literature by critically analysing the threat of Maritime terrorism to Pakistan and how prepared it is to counter this problem. This paper attempts to dissect the threats that exist in the Arabian Sea and how maritime terrorism has the potential to push Pakistan and India into a new conflict,which may have grave consequences for the global community. The paper starts with an overview of maritime terrorism and how it has evolved over timeand with technological advancements. This follows an analysis of marineterrorism incidents in India and Pakistan and how Pakistan has built up its organisationalstructure to coverthe threats posed by it. It contends that Pakistan has aready organisational structure; it requiresimproved inter-departmental coordinationandmore importantly,constitutional cover.In the end, the paper provides policy recommendations at the organisational, national and regional levelsto address the issue of maritime terrorism.