India’s Maritime Security and Strategy in the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean Region serves as the vital lifeline of India’s national security, economic prosperity, and energy access. India features a coastline spanning 7,516.6 kilometers, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending across 2.37 million square kilometers, and strategic island chains in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Over 95% of national commercial trade by volume and 68% by value moves through these sea routes, while nearly 80% of crude oil imports pass through critical regional chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Strait of Malacca. India’s strategic posture has shifted from a historically land-centric focus to an active, rules-based maritime strategy designed to secure sea lines of communication (SLOCs), safeguard natural resources, and act as a preferred security provider across the littoral states.

Core Strategic Vision and Policy Initiatives

India’s maritime engagement in the Indian Ocean operates through structured policy frameworks that integrate naval deterrence, economic cooperation, and capacity building for regional neighbors.

SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)

Launched in 2015 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mauritius, SAGAR serves as the foundational doctrine for India’s ocean governance. The policy focuses on collective security, economic development of the blue economy, disaster management, and technical assistance to island nations. Under Mission SAGAR, India deployed naval vessels to deliver medical supplies, food aid, and humanitarian support to Indian Ocean territories.

MAHASAGAR Initiative

Expanding on SAGAR, the Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth for All in the Region (MAHASAGAR) framework reinforces India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ approach. It stresses high-level naval interaction, shared maritime domain awareness, and joint maintenance operations for partner nations, such as the major refit of the Maldivian Coast Guard Ship MNDF Huravee in Mumbai.

Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)

Announced at the East Asia Summit in 2019, the IPOI is an open, non-treaty-based practical mechanism. It focuses on seven operational pillars: Maritime Security, Maritime Ecology, Maritime Resources, Capacity Building and Resource Sharing, Disaster Risk Reduction, Science and Technology Cooperation, and Trade Connectivity.

Institutional Security Architecture and Surveillance

India maintains a multi-agency, three-tiered security apparatus to guard its territorial waters and combat non-traditional maritime threats such as piracy, smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal fishing.

Three-Tiered Coastal Security Model

Command and Intelligence Infrastructure

• National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC): Functioning under the National Security Council Secretariat, the NMSC aligns policies across civil, military, and intelligence bodies.
• Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR): Established in 2018 at Gurugram, the IFC-IOR acts as a central hub for maritime domain awareness. It tracks merchant vessel movements, processes white shipping data, and hosts International Liaison Officers (ILOs) from over 15 partner nations.
• Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC): Based at Port Blair, the ANC is India’s first and only joint tri-service command. Located near the Malacca Strait, it enables rapid power projection into Southeast Asian sea lanes.
• Integrated Coastal Surveillance System (ICSS): Operates a chain of coastal static radars, automatic identification system receivers, and electro-optic sensors along India’s coastline, with feeder stations located in Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

Regional Diplomacy and Security Cooperation

India works through multilateral forums and regional alliances to maintain stability across the broader Indo-Pacific.

• Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA): Established in 1997, IORA unites 23 member states to advance maritime security, trade facilitation, and ocean conservation.
• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS): Launched by the Indian Navy in 2008, IONS provides a biennial forum for navy chiefs across 27 littoral nations to discuss counter-piracy, search and rescue, and disaster relief.
• Colombo Security Conclave (CSC): Originally formed by India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives (with Mauritius joining later), the CSC targets maritime safety, terrorism prevention, cyber security, and critical infrastructure protection.
• QUAD Alliance: In partnership with the United States, Japan, and Australia, India leads initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) to track dark shipping across regional waters.

Key Strategic Challenges

• China’s Expanding Footprint: The construction of dual-use naval bases in Djibouti, commercial port investments at Gwadar (Pakistan), Hambantota (Sri Lanka), and Kyaukpyu (Myanmar), and frequent deployments of research and hydrographic survey vessels create strategic competition.
• Maritime Law Enforcement & Piracy: Resurgence of Somali piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and drone strikes on commercial traffic in the Red Sea require prolonged operations like Operation Sankalp.
• Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Unflagged foreign trawlers deplete marine stocks within exclusive economic zones, threatening coastal livelihoods.
• Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA): Modernizing submarine detection assets, deep-sea sensor networks, and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) remains essential to keep pace with subsurface technological shifts.

Core Facts on India’s Maritime Strategy

• SAGAR doctrine was launched in 2015 in Mauritius by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• India’s coastline measures 7,516.6 kilometers, with an Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2.37 million square kilometers.
• Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) operates out of Gurugram, Haryana.
• Andaman and Nicobar Command at Port Blair is India’s sole operational tri-service command.
• The Indian Navy launched the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in 2008.
• Indian Coast Guard functions as the Lead Intelligence Agency for coastal borders.
• State Marine Police hold jurisdiction over territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline.
• Parliament enacted the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act in 2022 to give domestic legal force to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) covers seven dedicated operational pillars.
• National Maritime Security Coordinator operates under the National Security Council Secretariat.