India’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific and the need to strengthen its maritime thinking took centre stage during a session at the Raisina Dialogue 2026. The discussion featured Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM), and policy expert Gautam Chikermane, who spoke about India’s naval strategy, technological capabilities and the changing security landscape across the region. The conversation shed light on how maritime power is becoming increasingly important for India as global trade routes, energy security and regional geopolitics continue to shift toward the seas.
India needs stronger maritime awareness
One of the most important points raised during the session was the need for India to build a stronger “maritime consciousness.” Sanjeev Sanyal pointed out that despite having a long coastline and a rich maritime past, India historically focused more on land-based narratives. According to him, Indian history and strategic thinking have traditionally centred on land conflicts and empires, while maritime activity received far less attention.
He stressed that India must reconnect with its ancient seafaring traditions while combining them with modern technology and strategy in order to secure its interests in the Indo-Pacific. Sanyal also highlighted an important fact that often goes unnoticed the vast size of India’s maritime territory.
He explained that when India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is taken into account, the country’s maritime area becomes extremely significant. In fact, India’s maritime zone is about 70 percent larger than its land area, making it a critical strategic space that requires greater focus in defence planning and economic policy.
"India, despite having this long history and a very long coastline, somehow does not have a maritime consciousness until very recently. So if you read our history books, it's all about land-based things till, well, the British turn up and colonize India... If you take India's exclusive economic zone, which is the maritime zone, then actually India's size is 70% larger than its land mass. So India's maritime zone is 70% the size of its land mass…,” he said.
Reviving ancient maritime technology
Sanyal also spoke about an interesting project that demonstrates India’s historical maritime capabilities. He referred to INSV Kaundinya, a ship built using 4th-century techniques. The vessel was constructed by stitching wooden planks together with rope, following traditional methods used more than 1,600 years ago. To test its capabilities, the ship sailed from Gujarat to Oman, completing the journey in about 17 days.
The voyage showed that ancient Indian shipbuilding technology was capable of undertaking long sea journeys, highlighting the strength of India’s historical maritime knowledge.
"INSV Kaundinya is actually a ship built on 4th century AD principles, so 1600-year-old technology. It's put together by stitching the planks together with rope, and using only technologies that existed at that point in time, as you can see some of the photos of it at the background. And what we did is, we spent a couple of years building the ship, and then we, in late December, January, we took 17 days to cross from Gujarat to Oman, to demonstrate that such ships were capable of these crossings..,” Sanyal said.
