The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways along with Observer Research Foundation(ORF), India’s premium think tank, is organising Sagarmanthan 2025: The Great Oceans Dialogue. The conference will act as an international forum to discuss and ideate on pivotal aspects related to maritime security and ocean economy. The conference will take place in the port city of Mumbai from October 27-29, a city which is a key player in championing India’s blue economy and maritime prospects. Stakeholders including policy makers, industry leaders, scholars and subject experts hailing from across the globe will discuss and deliberate on the path to nurture the potential of the blue economy and the future of maritime security. The international conference is calibrated in line with India Maritime Week(IMW) commemorated by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
India being a key player in the Indian Ocean Region(IOR) and in the Indo-pacific has huge responsibility in terms of ensuring maritime security and nurturing the benefits of the blue economy, not just for the sake of domestic prosperity and national security but for the sake of global good. Sagarmanthan 2025, in this direction, will be a pivotal platform to curate the maritime pathway of India. In the era of spiking geopolitical uncertainties, where oceans are emerging as a contentious geopolitical theatre, India being a key stakeholder in IOR and Indo-pacific has paramount responsibility. It can be in terms of furnishing the huge potential of maritime trade, in an era where maritime trade routes are being weaponized and are emerging as conflict zones. It can be in terms of materializing maritime connectivity in favour of India and the larger Global South. Most importantly, the decisions can be towards ensuring sustainable development across oceans and nurturing the livelihood of the coastal communities, who form an integral part of the ocean strategy.
India being a peninsula and encompassed with a vast coastline of more than 10,000kms is a key stakeholder in all the aforementioned maritime decisions. From Gujarat to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, from West Bengal to Lakshadweep, maritime security and the blue economy takes a mammoth share in India’s foreign policy, economic security and national security decisions. Nurturing the ocean economy and fortifying maritime security, bridging the gaps in maritime connectivity are key pillars of India’s aspirations towards Viksit Bharat. In this direction, Sagarmanthan 2025, will act as a premium platform to leverage the economic potential of oceans and strengthen the national security architecture across seas.
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