Instability along the Red Sea–Suez route exposes India's trade to risk. Suggest a strategy for India to secure its western sea lanes through partnerships with littoral states.

The Red Sea–Suez route is India's shortest sea link to Europe and North Africa. After Houthi attacks and piracy spread in the Western Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy deployed over 30 ships and escorted more than 230 merchant vessels in a year [4]. Escorts can manage a crisis but cannot keep the route open on their own. India needs lasting partnerships with the states along the route.

Nature of the risk

• Costly detours: when the route is disrupted, ships go around the Cape of Good Hope. This raises freight and insurance costs for Indian exporters.
• Falling partner trade: India–Egypt trade fell from a record US$7.26 bn (FY 2021-22) to about US$4.8 bn (FY 2024-25) [2].

Strategy: partnerships with littoral states

1. Security cooperation

• Turn one-off escorts into joint patrols, information-sharing and logistics access with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Gulf of Aden states. The 2023 India–Egypt Strategic Partnership gives a framework for this [1].
• Help coastal states build their own capacity through training and coastal surveillance.

2. Economic anchoring

• Set up an Indian industrial presence in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ). It was on the 6th Joint Trade Committee (JTC) agenda [3], and Piyush Goyal's November 2026 visit took it further [5].
• Fix the trade imbalance: India exports about US$3.84 bn to Egypt and imports only about US$1.3 bn [1]. Indian units in the SCEZ making goods India imports, such as fertiliser or chemicals, would give Egypt a direct interest in a stable route.

3. Route diversification

• Push the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and EU partners [6]. India's Commerce Ministry has said IMEC adds to maritime security [7].
• This is needed because the SCEZ depends on the same Suez route. A disruption there hits it too, so IMEC acts as a backup.

4. Financial and institutional depth

• Build local-currency settlement and digital payments (a JTC agenda item [3]) to cut reliance on the dollar.
• Hold regular JTC (government-level) and Joint Business Council (business-level) follow-ups so agreed sectors turn into projects [1][3].

Conclusion

Securing the western sea lanes needs naval presence, economic stakes and alternative routes together. If India makes Egypt, the Gulf states and Red Sea coastal states partners in growth as well as security, the route becomes a shared interest. This fits India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and its own supply-chain resilience.