On September 6, 2025, a major disruption was reported after undersea cables in the Red Sea were damaged, cutting internet connectivity across the Middle East and Asia, including India. While sabotage has been alleged in several recent global incidents, such as Russian naval activities in the North Atlantic or Chinese involvement near Taiwan’s coast, this event underscored India’s own vulnerability to cable disruptions far beyond its borders. Despite being one of the world’s largest digital users with rising data demand, India remains dependent on a small cluster of undersea cables concentrated at a few landing points. This heavy reliance, coupled with the risk of adversarial sabotage, limited domestic maintenance and repair capacity, places its digital economy and critical services at risk. Thus, India must treat undersea cables not merely as commercial assets but as strategic infrastructure critical for national security, and urgently expand its domestic capabilities, governance mechanisms and norm-making, to safeguard what may be termed its “maritime digital security.”
The history and geopolitics of undersea cables
Undersea cables have evolved from the 19 century copper lines that carried telegraphic messages to today’s advanced fibre-optic systems that form the backbone of global digital connectivity. Today, more than 600 undersea cables carry over 98% of international data, providing the infrastructure that sustains everything from cloud computing and 5G to financial transactions and video streaming. Once dominated by traditional cable firms like SubCom, Alcatel Submarine Networks, NEC, and HMN Technologies, the sector now counts major technology companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft as key stakeholders, seeking to secure bandwidth for their data-heavy platforms and AI-driven applications.