Discuss how the evolution from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR reshapes India's maritime engagement with Southeast Asia. What are the constraints?

In March 2025, India launched MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) in Mauritius. It builds on SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and extends India's maritime vision "across regions" [1]. The ASEAN–India Maritime Exercise (AIME‑2026) at Subic Bay is framed explicitly under MAHASAGAR [2]. India's ambition has widened, but its capacity has not yet caught up.

How MAHASAGAR reshapes engagement

• Wider geography: SAGAR looked mainly at the Indian Ocean. AIME‑2026 is tied to both the Act East Policy and MAHASAGAR [2], which carries India's naval diplomacy into the Western Pacific.
• Multilateral naval diplomacy: The first AIME (2023) held its sea phase in the South China Sea. About 1,400 personnel on nine ships from India and seven ASEAN navies took part [3]. The second edition is hosted by the Philippines [2].
• ASEAN centrality: India links its partnership with ASEAN to the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo‑Pacific [4]. This makes the engagement led by partners rather than an attempt to build a bloc.
• A holistic agenda: MAHASAGAR combines trade, capacity building and mutual security [1]. 2026 is the ASEAN–India Year of Maritime Cooperation, focused on blue‑economy partnerships. It comes with a proposed second Defence Ministers' Meeting and a Plan of Action 2026–30 [5].

Constraints

• Small and irregular presence: India sent only two ships to each edition [6][2]. Three years passed between editions, and the second needed a fresh proposal at summit level [5]. That is too little to build real interoperability.
• ASEAN is not united at sea: Only seven of the ten ASEAN navies joined AIME‑2023 [3]. ASEAN decides by consensus, which slows the security track.
• Strategic caution: India supports the UNCLOS-based order, as its statement on the 2016 arbitral award shows [7]. But it takes no side on sovereignty claims, which limits what it can offer states in disputes.
• Economy lags behind the navy: The review of the AITIGA trade‑in‑goods agreement was still under negotiation in July 2026. ASEAN–India trade was about USD 128 billion in 2025–26 [8].

MAHASAGAR has turned India's engagement with Southeast Asia from an Indian Ocean outlook into a cross‑regional doctrine that combines security, trade and ASEAN‑led cooperation. To make it real, India should:

• fix a regular AIME calendar through the Defence Ministers' track;
• add disaster‑relief and fisheries drills that attract hesitant members;
• complete the AITIGA review.

With these steps, the theme "Anchored in Trust, United at Sea" [2] can support a rules‑based Indo‑Pacific, in line with SDG 14 (Life Below Water).