The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is often referred to as the ‘Constitution for the Oceans’. It addresses multiple issues of boundaries and delimitation, settlement of disputes, marine scientific research, commercial, economic and technological activities in the oceans and enables States to better utilise marine resources in a sustainable manner.The Indian Ocean has enormous potential for living and non-living resources and sustainable utilisation of these resources can be achieved by strict adherence to international legal instruments. The IORA can play a significant role in this endeavour by promoting cooperative agendas in the region in accordance with the legal framework provided by the 1982 UNCLOS. Contents Foreword Executive Summary Introduction Remarks • Dr. TCA Raghavan • Smt. Riva Ganguly Das • Ambassador Dr. Nomvuyo N. Nokwe, 10 • Judge Neeru Chadha 13 • Dr. Bimal N. Patel 20 • Mr. Narinder Singh 29 Section 1: 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea and Dispute Resolution Chapter 1 Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the 1982 UNCLOS Rear Admiral Khurshid Alam (Retd) Chapter 2 The Indian Ocean, UNCLOS and Competing Continental Shelf Claims Professor Jo-Ansie van Wyk Chapter 3 A Case against the Destabilisation of the International Legal Architecture of Oceans Professor Harisankar K. Sathyapalan Section 2 Issues of Freedom of Navigation Chapter 4 Informal Agreements and the Freedom of Navigation in a Rules-Based Order of the Oceans Professor Natalie Klein Chapter 5 UNCLOS 1982: Complexities of Ocean Governance and Freedom of Navigation Captain Sarabjeet S Parmar Section 3 Sustainable Fisheries Development and Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) Fishing Chapter 6 Achieving Sustainability in Fisheries in the midst of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Dr. Yugraj Singh Yadava Chapter 7 Public Private Partnership for Combatting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in Sri Lanka Commander Uditha Gamage Chapter 8 Combating IUU Fishing: Sustainable Fisheries within Indian Exclusive Economic Zone Commander Anand Kumar Section 4 Protection of the Marine Environment and Issues of Marine Scientific Research Chapter 9 Marine Environment and Issues of Marine Scientific Research Dr Sanjeet Ruhal Chapter 10 Marine Scientific Research Dr. Madhumita Kothari Chapter 11 Preparedness of IOR for Responding to Oil Spills Captain(N) Buddhika Jayaweera