New Delhi: The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, on Tuesday outlined India’s new maritime vision—MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions)—highlighting the imperative for a collective response in the face of increasing threats at sea.
While addressing the seventh Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD-2025) here in the national capital at the Manekshaw
Centre, Admiral Tripathi characterised the present maritime environment as one of “dynaxity” – dynamic but complex – in the crucible of conflict, criminality, and technology turbulence.
“The maritime environment reflects the broader chaos of our era,” he said. “We cannot afford to operate anymore in jurisdictional and cartographic silos.”
Quoting sobering economic statistics, the Admiral emphasised that the growth of global seaborne trade is set to plunge to 0.5 per cent in 2025, from 2.2 per cent in 2024.
“This downturn does not just reflect slowed trade; it marks strategic vulnerability,” he cautioned, referring to the Red Sea crisis as a stark demonstration of
how volatility in one chokepoint can shatter supply chains, drive up insurance premiums, and provoke food price shocks globally.
The speech highlighted several concurrent crises. Admiral Tripathi explained the plague of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing that costs an estimated 11 to 26 million tonnes of fish a year, worth up to $23 billion.
“Smuggling networks are using ungoverned maritime regions to fund terror and fuel instability on land,” he said.
In addition, he warned that technological progress, as useful as it is, brings new dangers.
“Artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and commercial satellites are transforming maritime awareness, but they also create openings for cyber intrusions, signal spoofing, and round-the-clock surveillance.”
He backed this up with estimates from the Indian Ocean Region’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC-IOR), which count “near-daily incidents of GPS jamming and electronic interference.”