India’s Indo-Pacific Policy: Vision MAHASAGAR, PM’s Three-Nation Visit & Strategy

About Vision MAHASAGAR

• Announced: Unveiled by India in 2025 as an expanded maritime vision for the Global South and Indo-Pacific.
• Full Form: Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR).
• Evolution of SAGAR: Expands the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine from the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to the wider Indo-Pacific, reflecting India’s evolving maritime and strategic outlook.
• Core Pillars: Promotes maritime security, safe and resilient supply chains, connectivity, Blue Economy, disaster resilience, capacity building, sustainable development, and inclusive regional partnerships.
• Strategic Objective: Reinforces India’s vision of a free, open, inclusive, secure, and rules-based Indo-Pacific, anchored in international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

About India’s Indo-Pacific Policy

• The Indo-Pacific is a geo-strategic and geo-economic region extending from the eastern coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, linking the economies and security interests of Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
• India’s Indo-Pacific Policy is a strategic vision that seeks to promote a free, open, inclusive, rules-based, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, while advancing maritime security, connectivity, economic cooperation, and regional stability.
• Key Features:
  • Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific: Supports freedom of navigation, respect for international law (UNCLOS 1982), peaceful resolution of disputes, and an inclusive regional order without targeting any specific country.
  • ASEAN Centrality: Recognises ASEAN as the cornerstone of the Indo-Pacific architecture and supports the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
  • Maritime Security: Strengthens maritime domain awareness, anti-piracy efforts, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), search and rescue, and blue economy cooperation.
  • Rules-Based Order: Upholds international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and freedom of navigation and overflight, particularly in the South China Sea.
  • Connectivity and Economic Cooperation: Promotes resilient supply chains, trade, digital connectivity, critical minerals, clean energy, and quality infrastructure.
• Key Pillars:
  • SAGAR: Security and Growth for All in the Region, India’s maritime vision announced in 2015, focusing on security, capacity building, and regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
  • MAHASAGAR: Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (2025), expanding India’s maritime vision from the Indian Ocean to the wider Indo-Pacific.
  • Act East Policy: Deepens strategic, economic, and connectivity ties with Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific.
  • Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI): Launched in 2019, focusing on maritime security, marine ecology, maritime resources, capacity building, disaster risk reduction, science and technology, and trade connectivity.
• Major Partners:
  • Quad: Cooperation with the Quad members—India, United States, Japan, and Australia—on maritime security, critical technologies, supply chains, cybersecurity, and HADR.
  • ASEAN: Comprehensive engagement through economic, connectivity, and maritime initiatives while supporting ASEAN Centrality.
  • Indian Ocean Partners: Enhanced cooperation with countries in the Indian Ocean Region, including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, and France.
  • Pacific Partners: Strengthening strategic ties with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Pacific Island Countries.

Importance of the Indo-Pacific for India

• Maritime Trade Hub: Encompasses critical Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) through which the bulk of India’s trade, energy imports, and commercial shipping passes.
• Strategic Security: Vital for safeguarding maritime security, freedom of navigation, regional stability, and critical undersea infrastructure.
• Economic Significance: Supports India’s economic growth, Blue Economy, global value chains, and resilient critical supply chains.
• Geopolitical Relevance: Forms the principal arena for India’s engagement with ASEAN, the Quad, Indian Ocean littoral states, and Pacific Island Countries (PICs), strengthening regional cooperation and strategic partnerships.
• Global South Outreach: Serves as a key platform for advancing India’s role as a trusted development partner and voice of the Global South through inclusive, demand-driven maritime cooperation.