GS-2: India and its Neighbourhood – Relations, Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Introduction:
The Bay of Bengal has emerged as the geopolitical and geoeconomic heart of India’s eastern maritime strategy. As non-traditional security threats such as climate change, maritime crimes, cyber vulnerabilities, and supply-chain disruptions transcend national boundaries, traditional military-centric approaches have become insufficient.
Against this backdrop, India has introduced SHANTI (Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity) as a normative maritime framework while launching its candidature for the UN Security Council (2028–29).
Building upon SAGAR and MAHASAGAR, SHANTI seeks to transform maritime security from power projection to cooperative governance. The Bay of Bengal, with its shared ecological systems and relatively cooperative strategic environment, offers the ideal laboratory for translating this vision into practice.
The Strategic Centrality of the Bay of Bengal:
The Bay of Bengal is no longer merely India’s eastern coastline but has become the strategic fulcrum of the Indo-Pacific.
Gateway to the Indo-Pacific:
- Connects India’s Act East Policy with ASEAN, strengthening economic and strategic integration.
- Serves as India’s maritime bridge to the Malacca Strait, through which nearly one-third of global maritime trade passes.
- Links the eastern Indian Ocean with East Asian manufacturing hubs and global energy routes.
- Enhances India’s role in shaping the emerging Indo-Pacific security architecture.
Geo-Economic Significance:
- Hosts some of the world’s busiest sea lanes carrying energy imports and merchandise trade.
- Supports India’s eastern ports including Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Haldia and Kolkata.
- Facilitates regional initiatives such as BBIN, BIMSTEC, India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.
- Critical for realizing India’s vision of becoming a global manufacturing and logistics hub.
Geostrategic Competition:
- China’s expanding port infrastructure under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including projects in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, has intensified strategic competition.
- China’s dependence on the Malacca Strait (Malacca Dilemma) has increased its naval footprint in the Bay.
- The Bay therefore represents both an arena of geopolitical competition and an opportunity for cooperative regional governance.
SHANTI: India’s New Maritime Security Doctrine:
SHANTI represents the evolution of India’s maritime diplomacy from capacity building to norm building.
Evolution of India’s Maritime Vision
- SAGAR (2015)
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- Focused on Security and Growth for All in the Region.
- Positioned India as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean.
- MAHASAGAR (2025)
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- Expanded India’s maritime engagement beyond the Indian Ocean to the wider Indo-Pacific and Global South.
- Recognized the interconnected nature of maritime security.
- SHANTI (2026)
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- Moves beyond strategic partnerships towards establishing shared norms, trust, transparency and institutional integrity.
- Emphasizes governance rather than dominance.
Shift in Maritime Thinking:
| Traditional Maritime Security | SHANTI Approach |
| Military deterrence | Cooperative resilience |
| Power projection | Norm-based governance |
| Strategic rivalry | Shared responsibility |
| Reactive crisis response | Preventive institutional cooperation |
| Influence politics | Trust-building partnerships |
Why the Bay of Bengal is the Ideal Laboratory?
The Bay of Bengal offers distinct geographical, ecological, and strategic attributes that make it an ideal testing ground before scaling SHANTI across the wider Indo-Pacific:
Shared Ecological System & Non-Traditional Threats:
- The Bay operates as a single interconnected marine system. Threats such as tropical cyclones, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, coastal erosion, and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing naturally cross national borders.
- Unilateral state solutions are inherently ineffective against these shared ecological challenges.
Cooperative Strategic Setting:
- Unlike the Western Indian Ocean (marked by active military conflicts, piracy, and state fragility) or the South China Sea (riddled with acute sovereignty disputes), the Bay’s challenges are primarily developmental, environmental, and non-traditional. This makes it more receptive to rules-based multilateral governance.
Resolving Institutional Fragmentation:
- The sub-region does not lack multilateral bodies (e.g., BIMSTEC, IORA, Colombo Security Conclave, IONS).
- Rather, it suffers from overlapping mandates, duplication of effort, and weak implementation. SHANTI provides an overarching normative framework to align these existing mechanisms into a functional security architecture.
Expanding the Paradigm: Non-Traditional Security Domains:
Under SHANTI, maritime security extends beyond traditional naval power projection to cover critical non-traditional vulnerabilities:
- Climate Security: Addressing salinity intrusion, climate migration, and severe weather impacts on coastal infrastructure.
- Cyber Security: Protecting smart-port operations, AI-driven logistics, satellite navigation systems, and subsea fiber-optic communication cables from digital disruptions.
- Supply Chain Security: Mitigating disruptions across critical energy routes and maritime chokepoints like the Malacca Strait.
- Food & Livelihood Security: Protecting marine biodiversity and fish stocks to safeguard coastal livelihoods across littoral states.
Strategic Evaluation: Strengths, Hurdles & Policy Matrix:
| Strategic Dimension | Opportunities & Strengths | Potential Hurdles & Risks |
| Regional Leadership | Reframes India’s posture from a regional hegemon to a preferred security partner and first responder built on stewardship. | Historical bilateral trust deficits and asymmetric power perceptions among smaller littoral states. |
| Geopolitical Balance | Offsets China’s infrastructure-heavy expansion (Malacca Dilemma) by offering norm-building, capacity-building, and trust over raw hard power. | Expanding Chinese military and economic footprint in regional ports (e.g., Kyaukpyu) creates strategic frictions. |
| Institutional Delivery | Leverages BIMSTEC as an active vehicle for joint exercises, law enforcement principles, and HADR protocols. | Capacity constraints, slow decision-making, and political instability in littoral nations (e.g., Myanmar, Bangladesh). |
Policy Alignment & Concrete Implementation:
Alignment with National & Constitutional Mandates:
- Constitutional Framework: Directly operationalizes Article 51 (promotion of international peace and security) and Article 253 (implementation of international treaties).
- Policy Synergy: Aligns with the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), Act East Policy, Maritime India Vision 2030, and the Blue Economy Policy Framework.
Operational Milestones:
- July 2026 BIMSTEC NSA Meeting (New Delhi): Adoption of common principles for maritime law enforcement and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
- November 2026 BIMSTEC Exercise: Scheduled inaugural joint maritime security exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
- White Shipping Agreements: Ongoing negotiations to establish real-time regional Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
Conclusion:
The article highlights a fundamental shift in India’s maritime posture. By using the Bay of Bengal as an anchor, SHANTI redefines maritime security from military deterrence to long-term systemic resilience. If supported by sustained institutional coordination and trust-building via platforms like BIMSTEC, SHANTI offers India a scalable, rules-based template to govern shared maritime commons across the wider Indo-Pacific.
