From SAGAR to MAHASAGAR – India’s Maritime Doctrine, Strategy and National Development
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Summary
Moving from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR, the 2026 Maritime Security Strategy underpins New Delhi’s maritime superiority. The naval advancement, blue water economy, port led-modernisation and enhanced regional and global maritime cooperation – showcases a confident path towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.
India’s maritime developmental journey carries the depth of civilisation and the energy of a rising century. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated the SAGAR “Security and Growth for All in the Region” in Mauritius, placing the Indian Ocean at the heart of a mutual cooperation and development-oriented maritime outlook. A decade later in March 2025, again from Mauritius, he advanced that vision into MAHASAGAR “Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions”, thereby widening India’s maritime approach from the Indian Ocean Region to the wider Global South with capacity building, infrastructural development, knowledge sharing and sharing of technology and resources among the state parties. It marks a natural progression and doctrinal evolution from SAGAR which provided India a regional partnership in maritime sector, whereas in MAHASAGAR it provides a wider civilisational, developmental and strategic vocabulary for the oceans of the twenty-first century.
Maritime Development as National Transformation
The movement from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR has advanced alongside a remarkable expansion of India’s maritime sector. The maritime domain now serves as a key pillar for the economic transformation, trade connectivity and navigation and blue economy aspirations of India. As 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and about 70 per cent by value moves through more than 13 major and 200 minor ports and international maritime trade routes, reflecting the foundational role of the seas in India’s development story. The Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, launched by Prime Minister Modi in October 2023, builds on Maritime India Vision 2030 and sets out a long-horizon roadmap for world-class ports enhancing coastal shipping around 11,081 km of coastline, inland waterways and sustainable maritime growth. By 2024, the cargo handling capacity at major ports had reached 1,630 MTPA, while total Indian port capacity stood at 2,690 MMTPA. In FY 2024–25, major ports handled about 855 million tonnes of cargo, and JNPA reached 7.3 million TEUs. India’s seafarer workforce has also expanded to over three lakhs, placing the country among the top three global suppliers of trained seafarers.
The Doctrinal Turn: Indian Maritime Doctrine 2025
The Indian Maritime Doctrine 2025, advances from the previous 2019 doctrine providing an intellectual clarity to the varying developing maritime concepts and naval perspective. It presents India as a maritime nation whose geography, economy and strategic outlook are deeply connected with the seas over centuries. The Doctrine explains maritime power as the ability of a nation to employ every sea-linked instrument naval power, maritime security agencies, shipping, offshore assets and international maritime cooperation for the advancement of national interests. It also affirms the Indian Navy’s fourfold role i.e.,military, diplomatic, constabulary and benign. In doctrinal terms, this is highly significant as it shows that India’s maritime rise rests equally on secure seas, partnerships, national and international maritime laws under the Law of the Sea regime, humanitarian outreach and national consciousness. The 2025 Doctrine therefore offers the conceptual foundation for a confident, responsible and future-ready maritime force of India.
Strategy in Motion: Indian Navy Maritime Security Strategy 2026
If the Indian Maritime Doctrine, 2025 explains India’s maritime purpose, the Indian Navy Maritime Security Strategy 2026 translates that purpose into structured action. The Strategy follows an Ends–Ways–Means framework and aligns naval employment with higher national directives, jointness, integration and whole of a nation coordination approach. Its emphasis is towards maritime domain awareness, networks, logistics, presence, rapid response, cooperative partnerships, maritime governance and maritime consciousness reflecting a mature strategic culture. Equally important, the Strategy introduces a dedicated line of thought for situations below the threshold, which demonstrates conceptual refinement and operational agility in a dynamic maritime environment. Together, the Doctrine and the Strategy present a coherent arc where the Doctrine defines the principles of India’s maritime power and the Strategy organises those principles for execution across the full spectrum of maritime responsibilities.
From Regional Assurance to Global Maritime Leadership
The journey from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR therefore represents itself far more than a change in terminology. It is 21st century maritime doctrine, with a wider perspective to India’s maritime statecraft from regional assurances to cross-regional partnerships, from port modernisation to blue economy leadership, from sea-lane connectivity to strategic consciousness and from maritime presence to maritime stewardship in the region. The Indian Maritime Doctrine 2025 and the Indian Navy Maritime Security Strategy 2026 together show that India’s maritime future is being shaped through an elegant synthesis of civilisational memory, institutional capability and developmental ambition and mutual cooperation and shared leadership. In that synthesis lays the true meaning of maritime resurgence with India that draws strength from the sea, shares prosperity across the seas, and advances toward ViksitBharat 2047 with confidence, responsibility and vision.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Statecraft Institute.