A report that calls for action

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has concluded that India’s current Indian Ocean strategy is fragmented, under-resourced, and insufficiently coordinated to meet accelerating geopolitical, security, and environmental challenges, especially China's expanding presence.

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The report urges a unified, better-funded, and institutionally stronger approach that integrates defence, diplomacy, development, and sustainability across the entire Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The report strongly advocates elevating India’s maritime strategy in the IOR to a top-tier national security priority, with commensurate long-term funding and political attention. It calls for stronger maritime deterrence against China and other extra-regional actors through enhanced naval capabilities, antisubmarine warfare, and advanced surveillance and maritime domain awareness (MDA), including satellites and Al-enabled systems.

The Committee recommends accelerating modernisation of the Navy and Coast Guard under Aatmanirbhar Bharat, including next-generation submarines, surface combatants, carrier-based aircraft, and long-range patrol and surveillance platforms. It also stresses improved fleet readiness, logistics, and personnel training, and closer coordination between the armed forces and civilian maritime agencies to ensure a unified operational posture in the IOR.

The report states that India is geographically positioned to be the primary strategic leader and “guardian” of the Indian Ocean, but its current approach is fragmented, under-resourced, and not fully aligned with the scale of geopolitical, security, and environmental challenges.

The key takeaways from the committee's report are:

A single, coherent Indian Ocean strategy that rationalises overlaps between SAGAR and MAHASAGAR and clearly links India’s Indian Ocean policy with its broader Indo-Pacific framework and roles in platforms like Quad, IORA, IONS, and ASEAN-centric forums.