Maritime domain awareness is the foundation of regional maritime security. Evaluate India's efforts to build MDA cooperation with its Bay of Bengal neighbours.

Maritime domain awareness (MDA) means knowing in real time what is moving at sea. Without it, states cannot counter smuggling or illegal fishing, or respond to cyclones. In the Bay of Bengal, which links South and South-East Asia, India has moved MDA cooperation from national systems to a BIMSTEC-wide effort. The progress is real, but it is still at an early stage.

India's efforts: strengths

• Thematic leadership: India leads BIMSTEC discussions on maritime security, cyber security and space [1].
• Information hub: The IFC-IOR, Gurugram (set up in 2018) hosts International Liaison Officers from partner nations to speed up information exchange [2].
• Policy groundwork: The NSCS hosted the 4th Expert Group on Maritime Security Cooperation in Nov 2025. It advanced links between maritime law-enforcement agencies and agreed to hold a first joint exercise [3].
• Operational step: The inaugural BIMSTEC Maritime Security Exercise (30 Oct–3 Nov 2026) includes all 7 members, even landlocked Nepal and Bhutan. MDA and interoperability are its stated aims. It is anchored by the Andaman and Nicobar Command, India's first tri-service command, which sits on critical sea lanes [4].
• Trust from HADR: BIMSTEC disaster-management exercises since 2017 have laid the groundwork for cooperation [1].
• Economic payoff: The 2025 Maritime Transport Agreement aims to cut shipping costs, and secure sea lanes make that possible [5].

Gaps

• Drill, not data: A five-day exercise does not create standing, real-time data sharing. States hesitate to expose surveillance of their own coasts.
• Military–police mismatch: Smuggling and illegal migration call for coast guard and police links. The Standing Committee on External Affairs flagged these threats [6], but the exercise is led by the MoD.
• Slow institutions: BIMSTEC got a working Secretariat only in 2014 and a Charter in force only in 2024 [1]. Consensus lets the slowest member set the pace.
• Asymmetry: India hosts the exercise, leads the theme and showcases its own command. Smaller members may see it as India's project.

Verdict: India has built a credible structure for MDA cooperation, but not yet a working regional network.

Next, India should hold the exercise every year with members taking turns to host. It should also link national centres to the IFC-IOR for permanent data sharing and name law-enforcement contact points in each country. This would match Parliament's call to improve MDA in the extended neighbourhood [6] and put the exercise's tagline, "Shared Seas, Shared Security and Shared Prosperity", into practice [4].