Chandigarh, July 29 -- Modern conflicts are no longer confined to land borders but increasingly centred on control of critical sea routes that sustain global trade and energy flows, veteran journalist and former Union minister MJ Akbar said on Tuesday while speaking at a lecture organised by Chandigarh Citizens Foundation's (CCF).

Organised in collaboration with the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), the lecture was titled: "The Coming War of the Six Seas: Geopolitics, Maritime Strategy and India's Role".

Akbar mapped a continuous arc of geopolitical tension across key water bodies - the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and the emerging theatre of the Indian Ocean.

Referring to ...