Context

• India retreated its commitment to the Global South by moving from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR, showing India’s Strategic move towards a more sustainable Waters in Indian Ocean and around the globe.

About Mahasagar Initiative

• MAHASAGAR (Maritime Initiative for Security And Growth for All in the Region) is India's flagship strategic framework for engagement in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). 

• Foundational Principle: Built upon Prime Minister Modi's 2015 SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision, emphasizing that maritime security and sustainable economic development in the IOR are fundamentally interconnected and require cooperative solutions. 

Primary Objectives

• Enhance Maritime Security: Counter transnational threats like piracy, terrorism, illegal fishing, trafficking (arms, drugs, humans), and maritime pollution.
• Promote Sustainable Economic Growth: Foster a stable maritime environment conducive to trade, resource exploration (e.g.,fisheries, minerals), and the "Blue Economy."
• Strengthen Regional Capacity: Build the capabilities of IOR littoral states to manage their own maritime domains effectively and respond to challenges.
• Establish India as the Net Security Provider: Position India as the primary, reliable, and cooperative security partner for IOR nations.
• Counter Strategic Competition: Offer a transparent, inclusive, and sovereignty-respecting alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly countering perceptions of "debt-trap diplomacy" and strategic encirclement ("String of Pearls").

MAHASAGAR Vision and Global Strategic Dynamics

• MAHASAGAR aims to strengthen ties with smaller states, enhancing maritime domain awareness and curbing illegal activities.
• Medium and smaller powers are seeking credible partners, given their experiences with China and the US.
• India is perceived as a more benign partner in the Indo-Pacific, offering long-term opportunities in the maritime domain.

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA): Components and Activities

• Capacity Building:Providing training programs for maritime security forces of partner nations.Supplying patrol vessels, surveillance aircraft, and other essential equipment (often through grants or concessional loans).Sharing technology and expertise in areas like hydrography, oceanography, and maritime law enforcement.
• Establishing information fusion centers (e.g., IFC-IOR in Gurugram) to facilitate real-time maritime data sharing.Deploying coastal surveillance radar systems in partner countries (e.g., Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives).Enhancing satellite surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities over the IOR.
• Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR):Leading coordinated regional responses to natural disasters (cyclones, tsunamis).Providing rapid deployment of naval assets, medical aid, relief supplies, and evacuation support.
• Infrastructure Development:Conducting joint HADR exercises with regional partners.Supporting the development and modernization of ports and harbors in partner nations (e.g., Chabahar in Iran, Duqm in Oman, Agaléga in Mauritius, Sabang in Indonesia).

Way Forward for MAHASAGAR

• Blue Economy Leadership: Positioning MAHASAGAR as the key facilitator for sustainable development of fisheries, marine resources, renewable energy, and tourism in the IOR, linking security directly to prosperity.
• Seamless Information Sharing: Overcoming bureaucratic and trust hurdles to make the Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) and other MDA networks truly effective for real-time, actionable intelligence sharing.
• Countering Strategic Competition:Consistently emphasizing and demonstrating the advantages of MAHASAGAR's model - transparency, respect for sovereignty, sustainability, lack of debt traps - versus alternatives like China's BRI.