‘India will have to strengthen its understanding of the ocean’, said Sanjeev Sanyal in Raisina Dialogue

New Delhi: The Raisina Dialogue 2026 saw an in-depth discussion on India’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific region and the need to strengthen ‘maritime consciousness’ or understanding of the ocean. Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal and policy expert Gautam Chikarmane spoke in this session on India’s naval strategy, technological capabilities and the changing security scenario in the region. The discussion between the two made it clear how important sea power has become for India amid the growing maritime trend of global trade routes, energy security and regional geopolitics.

‘We should reconnect with ancient maritime traditions’

Sanjeev Sanyal said in the Raisina Dialogue that India will have to develop strong ‘maritime consciousness’. He said that despite its long coastline and rich maritime history, India has always focused more on land-based stories. Indian history and strategic thinking mostly deal with conflicts and empires on land, while maritime activities received less importance. Sanyal stressed that India must reconnect with its ancient maritime traditions and combine them with modern technology and strategy to safeguard its interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Sanyal said important thing on India’s maritime sector

Sanyal pointed out an important point that is often overlooked, and that is how large India’s maritime territory is. He said, ‘Despite having a history and a very long coastline, India did not have maritime consciousness until recently. In our history books, till the arrival of the British, there are mostly things related to land. If we look at India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is the maritime area, India’s size is actually 70 percent larger than its land area. That means India’s sea area is 70 percent larger than its land area.

‘INSV Kaundinya revealed the potential of ancient India’

Sanyal mentioned an interesting project showcasing India’s historical maritime capabilities. He told about the ship named INSV Kaundinya, which is built with the technology of 4th century AD. The ship is made of wooden planks stitched together with rope, just as was used 1600 years ago. To test the capability of this ship, a journey was made from Gujarat to Oman, which was completed in about 17 days. This voyage proved that ancient Indian shipbuilding technology was capable of long sea voyages.

Sanyal said, ‘INSV Kaundinya is actually a ship built on the principles of 4th century AD, i.e. 1600 years old technology. It was made by stitching boards together with rope and using only the technologies available at that time. You can see some of its pictures in the background. We spent a few years building the ship and then completed the journey from Gujarat to Oman in 17 days in December-January, to show that such ships were capable of these journeys.

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