India has long stood at the crossroads of some of the world’s most strategic waterways, but in recent years, New Delhi has accelerated efforts to redefine its maritime identity and broaden its influence across the Indian Ocean and adjacent regions. This evolution reached a new milestone earlier this year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mauritius, where he unveiled India’s updated maritime vision: MAHASAGAR – an acronym for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, and a Sanskrit word meaning “ocean.”

With this, India signaled its intent not merely to protect its maritime interests but to shape a new architecture of security, cooperation and economic integration across a vast maritime expanse. MAHASAGAR follows a decade after Modi introduced SAGAR (“Security and Growth for all in the Region”), and it represents an even more ambitious framework. Where SAGAR took India from “using the seas” to “securing the seas,” MAHASAGAR seeks to transform India into a first responder, an economic partner and a cultural connector across wide swaths of the Indo-Pacific and, potentially, beyond.

India’s geography naturally thrusts it into a maritime leadership role. With a 7,500-kilometer coastline, more than 200 ports, and hundreds of islands scattered across the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, India is inseparable from the Indian Ocean. Nearly 90 percent of India’s trade – including most of its vital energy imports – traverses these waters.

But security threats have also shaped India’s maritime mindset. Over the past two decades, piracy around the Horn of Africa, terrorist infiltration by sea – most infamously during the 2008 Mumbai attacks – and an expanding presence of foreign navies have intensified India’s focus on oceanic security. These concerns catalyzed the original SAGAR initiative, prompting India to sign port-access agreements with Oman, Seychelles, Mauritius and Australia, and logistics agreements with the United States. The revival of the Quad and its Malabar naval exercises further underscored India’s shift toward active maritime engagement.

MAHASAGAR does not abandon SAGAR; it expands upon it. The new doctrine embodies India’s aspirations to become more than a participant in regional maritime affairs – it aims to make India an indispensable actor.

The vision rests on three primary pillars:

1. India as the region’s first responder and preferred security partner

MAHASAGAR emphasizes crisis response, defense cooperation and intelligence sharing. The goal is to provide smaller littoral states with reliable support during humanitarian disasters, maritime emergencies, and nontraditional threats such as piracy or trafficking.

In April, India operationalized this pillar through the Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement, conducting naval exercises with 10 African nations. These drills were followed by surveillance missions, joint patrols in exclusive economic zones, and training programs. Such efforts not only enhance interoperability but also signal India’s growing maritime readiness and diplomatic reach.

2. A widened Arc of economic cooperation

Beyond security, the new doctrine calls for broader economic networks, from supply-chain diversification to maritime infrastructure development. Capacity-building, renewable energy cooperation, climate adaptation and disaster readiness form core elements of this economic architecture.

India seeks to position itself as a stable, reliable economic partner to emerging maritime nations – particularly those in Africa, the Indian Ocean islands and Southeast Asia – offering alternatives to predatory or conditional economic frameworks imposed by some external powers.

3. Soft-power diplomacy on the high seas

MAHASAGAR incorporates cultural, educational and technological diplomacy as tools of maritime influence. This reflects India’s understanding that leadership in the Indian Ocean cannot rely solely on military or economic engagement. Cultural ties, training programs, university partnerships, and technology transfers can deepen India’s presence in ways that build mutual trust and lasting goodwill.

Challenges: From vision to viable strategy

Despite its promise, MAHASAGAR faces several obstacles before transforming into a functional maritime strategy.

One of the most pressing issues is ambiguity. While SAGAR clearly focused on the Indian Ocean region, MAHASAGAR’s scope remains loosely defined. Some commentators suggest the doctrine is meant to encompass the “Global South,” but such a term is too broad, fragmented and politically diverse to guide effective maritime policy.

To maintain credibility, India must clearly delineate the geographic boundaries of MAHASAGAR – at least in its initial phase. Limiting the operational sphere to the Indian Ocean and its littoral regions would provide practical focus while preserving flexibility to expand later based on strategic needs.

India’s naval modernization has progressed significantly, but the gap between ambition and capacity remains. Becoming a “preferred security partner” requires not only advanced naval assets but also sustained deployment capability, logistical reach, and rapid-response infrastructure.

Modesty, rather than grandiose rhetoric, would serve India better at this juncture. Overpromising risks undermining India’s credibility, especially when partners expect swift and consistent support during crises.

India’s expanding cooperation with Western nations – particularly the United States, Australia and France – has strengthened its maritime posture, yet it carries risks. As naval analyst Anoop Verma observes, Western support often remains “conditional, selective and aligned with their own broader strategic agendas.”

India must therefore guard against strategic overdependence. MAHASAGAR should reinforce India’s autonomy, not dilute it under the strategic priorities of external powers who view the Indian Ocean through their own geopolitical lenses.

MAHASAGAR seeks partnerships in defense, economics, climate action, education and culture. To succeed, it must avoid becoming overly militarized. Countries in the Indian Ocean region – many wary of great-power rivalry – may prefer cooperative development projects to overt security alignments. India’s ability to maintain this balance will determine how widely MAHASAGAR is embraced.

MAHASAGAR represents the most ambitious maritime vision India has articulated to date. It builds upon the foundation laid by SAGAR but aims to reshape India’s role in the Indian Ocean more comprehensively – from a security provider and economic collaborator to a civilizational bridge connecting diverse regions.

Yet, as with all visionary frameworks, its success depends on execution. Clear geographic focus, measured rhetoric, stronger naval capacity, and careful management of partnerships will be essential. If implemented thoughtfully, MAHASAGAR has the potential to move beyond aspirational diplomacy and become a defining element of India’s 21st-century strategic identity – advancing not only India’s security and economic interests but also fostering stability and cooperation across one of the world’s most contested maritime regions.

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