India’s recent elevation of its SAGAR doctrine to MAHASAGAR, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mauritius this year, signals a strategic recalibration intended to position India as a pivotal regional power in the broader Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
This initiative, formally termed “Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions,” is designed explicitly as a robust and inclusive alternative to China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It addresses the geopolitical and economic vulnerabilities many regional states face.
SAGAR to MAHASAGAR: An Expansion of Strategic Ambition
When Modi introduced SAGAR—Security and Growth for All in the Region—in 2015, it was primarily a South Asia-centric concept focusing on immediate neighbours such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles. Its main objective was regional cooperation, promoting collective maritime security, economic connectivity, and cultural engagement.
Fast-forward to 2025, and MAHASAGAR expands India’s maritime outreach beyond South Asia to encompass the broader Indian Ocean and, significantly, Africa’s eastern littoral states. This shift indicates a clear departure from a limited regional engagement to a broader strategic vision, motivated largely by China’s increasing assertiveness and its growing maritime footprint under the BRI framework.
Countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative
The BRI has been criticised globally for its predatory lending practices, often called “debt-trap diplomacy.” After failing to service its debts, Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port lease to China has become emblematic of the perils associated with Chinese-funded infrastructure. African nations, facing similar vulnerabilities, are growing wary of BRI projects as they begin to understand the economic and strategic strings attached fully.
MAHASAGAR aims to directly counter these influences by promoting cooperative maritime security, transparent infrastructure development, and sustainable economic growth. Unlike China’s unilateral, loan-heavy infrastructure model, India’s initiative focuses on mutual benefits and regional collaboration, emphasising humanitarian support, capacity building, and respect for national sovereignty.
Operationalising MAHASAGAR: Deepening India-Africa Maritime Cooperation
The practical implementation of MAHASAGAR has already commenced through joint naval exercises and deployments. A recent example was the AIKEYME (Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement) naval exercise held jointly with Tanzania in April 2025. This exercise, involving ten African nations—Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania—showcased India’s commitment to enhancing interoperability, information sharing, and collaborative security operations.
Concurrently, the Indian Navy deployed IOS SAGAR, a multinational maritime surveillance and goodwill mission involving personnel from several African and South Asian nations. This ship visited strategic ports including Port Louis in Mauritius and Port Victoria in Seychelles, conducting joint Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) patrols, training exercises, and humanitarian engagements.
These initiatives emphasise India’s growing emphasis on maritime diplomacy, reinforcing its position as a trusted regional security partner and first responder to crises. India’s swift response in past crises, including the 2004 tsunami and recent humanitarian assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, enhances its credibility and soft power, directly contrasting China’s more transactional approach to regional engagement.
Soft Power and People-to-People Diplomacy
Crucially, MAHASAGAR includes a substantial focus on soft power—cultural exchanges, training programs, and diaspora engagement. Events such as joint yoga sessions, friendly sports competitions, and community visits during naval deployments foster personal relationships that underpin deeper diplomatic and strategic ties.
India’s training and capacity-building programs, including naval training courses conducted in Kochi for African and South Asian maritime personnel, enhance professional relationships, build trust, and promote a shared understanding of regional maritime challenges.
Balancing Major Power Competition
While MAHASAGAR explicitly aims to counterbalance China’s economic and strategic dominance, India carefully avoids overt military confrontation or aggressive alliance-building. Unlike more direct security frameworks like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), which India has supported strategically but cautiously avoided militarising, MAHASAGAR remains inclusive and cooperative, inviting broad-based regional participation.
This approach allows India to operate flexibly within an increasingly competitive strategic landscape, enhancing regional stability without explicitly forcing smaller nations to choose sides. Such careful positioning is vital for India’s long-term vision of becoming a regional stabiliser respected by global powers and trusted by regional partners.
Future Prospects and Potential Challenges
MAHASAGAR’s strategic vision holds significant promise, and while navigating the existing geopolitical landscape will require thoughtful engagement, India is well-positioned to build upon its strengths. Although China maintains an established presence in strategic locations such as Djibouti, Hambantota, and other African and South Asian ports, India’s increased regional activities provide opportunities for constructive diplomatic engagement and enhanced partnerships, reinforcing regional stability rather than intensifying competition.
Domestically, India’s continued focus on streamlining bureaucratic processes, effective resource allocation, and strengthening diplomatic capabilities will support the successful institutionalisation of biennial maritime exercises and infrastructure projects across the Indian Ocean littoral. Proactively addressing these areas will further solidify MAHASAGAR’s role in fostering inclusive growth, regional cooperation, and maritime security.
Nevertheless, MAHASAGAR clearly articulates India’s willingness and ability to take a more proactive role in regional security. With robust maritime diplomacy, sustainable development initiatives, and cooperative security mechanisms, India is poised to significantly reshape strategic relationships across the Indian Ocean.
India’s Geopolitical Moment
MAHASAGAR arrives at a crucial juncture in global geopolitics, where traditional Western dominance is weakening, China’s assertiveness is increasingly contested, and middle powers like India must step into leadership roles. By offering an inclusive, cooperative alternative to the divisive, debt-centric model of the BRI, India seeks to position itself as a stabilising force, committed to shared growth and mutual security.
For nations in the Indian Ocean Region, MAHASAGAR offers an opportunity to engage with a regional power that seeks genuine partnership rather than dependency and strategic collaboration rather than strategic subjugation. As India further operationalises this ambitious vision, the region is witnessing the emergence of a new strategic balance—one shaped not by superpower rivalry alone, but increasingly by India’s proactive, inclusive diplomacy.
