• SAGAR to MAHASAGAR: Navy Leads India’s Wider Maritime Push

    A year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the MAHASAGAR vision during his visit to Mauritius, India’s maritime strategy is entering a new phase. The initiative marks an evolution of the earlier SAGAR doctrine—Security and Growth for All in the Region—which for nearly a decade guided India’s engagement with countries across the Indian Ocean. Announced…

  • The Geopolitical Transformation of Asymmetric Naval Warfare: From the Sri Lankan Littoral to a Grand Strategy for the Strait of Hormuz

    The modern maritime security environment has undergone a fundamental shift from blue-water fleet engagements to highly complex asymmetric confrontations in the littorals. This evolution is best exemplified by the conflict between the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sea Tigers, a non-state actor that pioneered the use of suicide…

  • India’s Maritime Diplomacy Surges Across Four Key Partners in the Indian Ocean Region

    India’s maritime diplomacy surged with visible momentum this past week, though the developments on display were the result of long-building efforts rather than sudden action. Behind the headlines of naval sailings, summit visits and economic pledges lies a strategy that New Delhi has been calibrating for years. This strategy rests on three pillars: trusted partnerships,…

  • Defanging the Dragon: India’s Real Antidote to China’s Indian Ocean Strategy

    This report provides a strategic analysis of India’s options for neutralizing geopolitical and non-traditional security threats within the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The primary threat stems from the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ‘String of Pearls’ strategy, a network of dual-use (commercial and military) ports designed to encircle India, secure Chinese Sea Lines of Communication…

  • Book Review: A Maritime Pas de Deux — India and China at Sea

    In India’s Elephant Navy and China’s Dragon Navy @2025, Commodore Ranjit B. Rai and Neil Harvey deliver an illuminating and visually rich exploration of Asia’s two ascending naval powers—India and China—whose maritime trajectories are redefining the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. This 286-page illustrated volume fuses operational insight with cultural interpretation, charting how two…

  • Indian Navy Chief Undertakes Official Visit to Japan to Strengthen Maritime Ties

    Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), embarked on a four-day official visit to Japan on Tuesday, as part of ongoing efforts to consolidate bilateral defence relations between the two countries under the framework of their ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership.’ During the visit, Admiral Tripathi is slated to hold wide-ranging discussions…

  • With INS Nistar, India Joins an Elite Club of Navies with Deep-Sea Rescue Expertise

    July 18, 2025, marked a watershed moment in India’s naval capabilities as the Indian Navy formally commissioned INS Nistar, the nation’s first indigenously designed and built Diving Support Vessel (DSV), at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. This milestone places India in an exclusive club of nations possessing advanced submarine rescue and deep-sea diving capabilities, fundamentally…

  • DSV Nistar serves as perfect example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat’s success story

    In a big step towards self-reliance in defence, the Indian Navy is all set to commission its first indigenously-designed and developed Diving Support Vessel (DSV), Nistar, on July 18. Built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) at Visakhapatnam according to the classification rules of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), Nistar stands out for its advanced…

  • Rethinking the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: A Whistleblower’s Perspective on Strategic Environmental Manipulation

    The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is widely understood as a natural geological disaster. However, this paper examines the event from a lesser-known perspective—through the lens of intelligence manipulation and environmental warfare. As a former child soldier, intelligence officer with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and informant for multiple national security agencies including the…

  • Predators at Sea: Inside Terrorist Tactics Targeting Naval Security

    This article critically examines the strategies and methodologies employed by terrorist organizations to target conventional naval assets, including merchant vessels and military ships such as frigates and destroyers. It focuses comprehensively on mechanisms used by terrorists to gather maritime intelligence, especially concerning naval technological systems like radar, sonar, GPS, and various weapon systems, including guns,…