PM Narendra Modi calls for Rules-Based Maritime Order in Message to 3rd Sagarmanthan Dialogue

1. At a Glance

• Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue is an annual maritime thought-leadership conference. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) organise it. Its 3rd edition was held in New Delhi [1][4].
• In a written message, PM Modi set out India's vision of a "free, open, secure and rules-based maritime order" built on cooperation, trust, mutual respect and mutual benefit [1].
• It connects India's economic maritime agenda (ports, shipbuilding, seafarers, Viksit Bharat 2047) with its strategic maritime doctrine (UNCLOS, SAGAR, MAHASAGAR) [1][7][10][11].
• Exam value: this is a GS-II/GS-III overlap topic. It brings together the Blue Economy, maritime security, Indo-Pacific diplomacy and maritime heritage (GS-I).

2. Why in the News

• 7 Oct 2026: PIB released the PM's written message to the 3rd Sagarmanthan. He welcomed global policymakers, maritime leaders and experts, and called for a rules-based maritime order [1].
• The PM highlighted that major port capacity has nearly doubled, turnaround times have fallen significantly, India has passed "new-generation maritime laws", and is investing in ocean science and exploration [1].
• He said Indian seafarers are the second-largest maritime workforce in the world [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Rationale: to make India "the global venue for all strategic maritime conversations" through an annual dialogue [2][3].
• Aug–Sep 2024: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched Sagarmanthan at a curtain-raiser. The inaugural edition was announced for Mumbai, 18–19 Nov 2024, with 75–100 countries expected and ministers from 10+ countries [2][3].
• Nov 2024: The 1st edition was actually held in New Delhi. PIB called it "South Asia's largest maritime thought leadership summit", with delegates from 60+ countries [4].
• Nov 2024: The PM's message called for Sagarmanthan's success "to build consensus for partnerships of a prosperous future of humanity" [6].
• Oct 2026: At the 3rd edition, the PM's message took a sharper focus on the rules-based order [1].
• Related earlier frameworks:
• Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030, launched in 2021 [7].
• Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV) 2047, launched by the PM [8].
• Sagarmala Programme [7].
• SAGAR, later expanded into MAHASAGAR [11].

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Full name	Sagarmanthan: The Great Oceans Dialogue [1]
Meaning	"Churning of the ocean". In Indian tradition the churning is linked to discovering new possibilities [1]
Organisers	MoPSW + Observer Research Foundation (ORF) [1]
Frequency	Annual [2]
1st edition themes	New Frontiers; Blue Growth Partnerships for Progress; Green and Blue; Coasts & Communities [2][3]
India's trade by sea	~95% by volume, ~70% by value [7]
Port capacity (2014→2025)	1,400 → 2,762 MMTPA, nearly doubled [7]
Cargo handled (all ports)	972 → 1,594 MMT [7]
Major ports' cargo	~855 MT in FY 2024-25, up from 819 MT in FY 2023-24 [7]
Average vessel turnaround time	93 hrs → 48 hrs [7]
Major ports' operating ratio	73% → 43% [7]
Indian-flagged vessels	1,205 → 1,549; gross tonnage 10 → 13.52 MGT [7]
Seafarers	1.25 lakh → 3 lakh+, about 12% of the global seafaring workforce [7]
Inland waterways	Cargo 18 MMT (2014) → 146 MMT (2025); operational national waterways 3 → 29 [7]
MIV 2030	Launched 2021; 150+ initiatives; ₹3–3.5 lakh crore investment [7]
MAKV 2047	~₹80 lakh crore investment; 300+ actionable initiatives [7]
Shipbuilding package	₹69,725 crore, made up of: Maritime Development Fund ₹25,000 cr; SBFAS ₹24,736 cr; SbDS ₹19,989 cr [7]
Indian Ship Technology Centre	₹305 cr, Visakhapatnam [7]
Sagarmala	840 projects worth ₹5.8 lakh cr by 2035; 272 completed (₹1.41 lakh cr) [7]
MAHASAGAR	Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions [11]
SAGAR	Security and Growth for All in the Region [11]
Legal anchor of the "rules-based order"	UNCLOS 1982; India is a State Party [10]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• The sea carries ~95% of India's trade by volume, so port efficiency directly affects logistics costs and export competitiveness [7].
• Major ports' net annual surplus rose from ₹1,026 cr to ₹9,352 cr, which strengthens the case for port-led development [7].
• The ₹69,725 cr shipbuilding package and the MDF aim to cut dependence on foreign fleets, in line with MAKV's goal of making India a top shipbuilding nation by 2047 [7].

Geopolitical / Strategic

• "Free, open, secure and rules-based" signals India's Indo-Pacific stance: freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce under UNCLOS [1][10].
• The Raksha Mantri has said India stands for "open & rule-based maritime borders in the Indo-Pacific" (18th HACGAM, New Delhi) [13].
• IOS SAGAR puts MAHASAGAR into practice. INS Sunayna was flagged off from Karwar with 44 personnel from nine friendly IOR nations [9][11].
• The PM's line that "every country has a voice" frames India as a voice for Global South / small island states in ocean governance [1].

Environmental

• The PM framed the sea as a responsibility: protecting ocean health and coastal ecosystems while building the maritime economy [1].
• MAKV pushes green corridors, green hydrogen bunkering at major ports, and methanol-fuelled vessels [7].

Social / Human Capital

• The seafarer workforce has more than doubled in a decade (now 3 lakh+), creating overseas jobs and remittances [7].
• Ferry and Ro-Pax services carried 7.5 crore+ passengers in 2024-25 [7].

Historical / Cultural

• The PM traced India's maritime lineage: Lothal → Chola dynasty → Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's naval vision [1].
• A ₹266 cr lighthouse museum is planned at the National Maritime Heritage Complex, Lothal (Gujarat) [7].

Legal / Governance

• The PM cited "new-generation maritime laws" that create a modern framework for the sector [1]. Study the individual Acts separately; see the gaps note.

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• Sep 2025: At the "Samudra Se Samriddhi" event, 27 MoUs were exchanged, worth over ₹66,000 cr and expected to create 1.5 lakh+ jobs. Projects include the Bahuda greenfield port, Odisha (150 MTPA) [7].
• 27–31 Oct 2025: India Maritime Week 2025 was held at NESCO, Mumbai. Amit Shah inaugurated it, with 100+ countries expected [7][14].
• 2025–26: IOS SAGAR deployments made port calls including Malé and Jakarta [11].
• 2026: The Goa Maritime Conclave 2026 reinforced a shared IOR maritime security vision [12].
• Oct 2026: The PM sent his message to the 3rd Sagarmanthan [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• Sagarmanthan is organised by MoPSW with the Observer Research Foundation, not MEA or MoD [1].
• The 3rd edition was held in New Delhi; PIB release dated 7 Oct 2026 [1].
• The inaugural edition was announced for Mumbai but held in New Delhi in Nov 2024 [3][4].
• PIB called it "South Asia's largest maritime thought leadership summit" [4].
• The 1st edition had four themes: New Frontiers; Blue Growth Partnerships for Progress; Green and Blue; Coasts & Communities [2].
• MAHASAGAR = Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions [11].
• India is a State Party to UNCLOS 1982, the basis of its "rules-based order" stance [10].
• Average vessel turnaround time fell from 93 to 48 hours [7].
• Port capacity rose from 1,400 to 2,762 MMTPA [7].
• MIV 2030 was launched in 2021 with 150+ initiatives [7].
• MAKV 2047 envisages ~₹80 lakh crore of investment and 300+ initiatives [7].
• The Indian Ship Technology Centre is at Visakhapatnam [7].
• The National Maritime Heritage Complex is at Lothal, Gujarat [7].
• Operational National Waterways rose from 3 to 29 [7].

8. Ports Have Grown Faster Than the Cargo Coming to Them

• Port capacity almost doubled, but cargo grew much more slowly
• Between 2014 and 2025, port capacity rose from 1,400 to 2,762 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum, the most cargo a port can handle in a year). That is a rise of about 97% [7].

• Over the same years, cargo handled rose from 972 to 1,594 MMT. That is a rise of only about 64% [7].

• So a bigger share of port capacity now sits unused

• In 2014, ports used about 69% of their capacity (972 ÷ 1,400) [7].
• By 2025 they used only about 58% (1,594 ÷ 2,762) [7].

• About 1,170 MMTPA of capacity is now idle. That is more than India's entire cargo in 2014.

• The fair reading: some spare room is planned, but the gap still matters

• Ports are built ahead of demand. Some spare capacity is a sensible plan, not waste.
• But money spent on unused berths earns nothing. The real limit on growth is now cargo volume (trade and how goods reach the port), not the number of berths.

• Major ports' cargo grew only from 819 MT to 855 MT in one year, about 4% [7]. Growth this slow will not fill the new capacity soon.

• How to use this in an answer: the PM's "capacity has nearly doubled" [1] is true. A strong answer adds that cargo is growing more slowly, so the next stage of reform must focus on connecting ports to farms and factories, not on building more berths.

9. India Sends Sailors to Sea, but Not Its Own Ships

• India supplies crews to the world's ships
• Indian seafarers grew from 1.25 lakh to over 3 lakh, about 12% of the world's seafarers [7].

• Most of them work on ships owned and flagged by other countries. India supplies the workers. Other countries own the ships and earn the freight money.

• India's own fleet is growing more slowly than its trade

• Indian-flagged vessels rose from 1,205 to 1,549, about 29% [7].
• Gross tonnage (the total carrying size of the fleet) rose from 10 to 13.52 MGT, about 35% [7].

• Cargo handled rose by about 64% over the same years [7]. So a growing share of India's trade must travel on foreign ships.

• Why it matters for a "rules-based order"

• About 95% of India's trade by volume travels by sea [7]. If most of it moves on foreign ships, a crisis abroad (sanctions, war, ship shortages) can raise India's costs or hold up its goods.

• This explains the ₹69,725 crore shipbuilding package and the Maritime Development Fund [7]. They are meant to correct this weakness, not just to win prestige.

• The test to watch: whether Indian-flagged tonnage starts growing faster than trade. Until it does, India's maritime strength rests on its sailors, not its ships.

10. Sagarmala's Slow Delivery Is the Real Test of the 2047 Plan

• A parliamentary committee raised the alarm in 2022
• The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture reported in March 2022 that only 172 of 802 Sagarmala projects had been completed since 2015 [15].
• That was about ₹88,000 crore out of ₹5.5 lakh crore of planned work [15].

• It found that port modernisation projects had gone ₹20,000 crore over cost. It also said the all-weather Vadhavan port had made no progress [15].

• Delivery has picked up, but not enough to meet the 2035 deadline

• By 2025, 272 of 840 projects were complete, worth ₹1.41 lakh crore out of ₹5.8 lakh crore [7].
• That is about 100 projects in roughly three and a half years after the committee report, or about 30 a year.

• About 568 projects remain. At 30 a year, they would take nearly 19 years, far beyond the 2035 target [7].

• The 2047 vision is many times bigger than anything delivered so far

• MIV 2030 planned ₹3–3.5 lakh crore of investment. MAKV 2047 plans about ₹80 lakh crore [7].
• Sagarmala has finished ₹1.41 lakh crore of work in about a decade [7]. MAKV needs more than 50 times that amount.

• Announcing large MoUs, such as the 27 MoUs worth ₹66,000 crore in Sep 2025 [7], is not the same as finishing projects. The committee's numbers show the difference.

• What should follow

• MoPSW should list the port-wise reasons for each delay, with the steps taken to fix them. The Standing Committee asked for exactly this [15].
• MoPSW should report MAKV progress in projects completed, not in MoUs signed. The Sagarmala figures show how far the two can drift apart.

11. What the PM's Message Changed — and What a Dialogue Cannot Do

• The message has become more strategic
• In 2024, the PM's message to Sagarmanthan spoke of building "consensus for partnerships of a prosperous future of humanity" [6].
• In 2026, it called for a "free, open, secure and rules-based maritime order" [1].

• So a conference run by the ports ministry now carries security language as well as trade language. Sagarmanthan is becoming a platform for India's Indo-Pacific message, not only for its port plans.

• But a dialogue cannot make the rules

• Sagarmanthan is organised by MoPSW and ORF, a think tank [1]. It is a place to talk. It produces no treaty and no binding commitment.
• The "rules" India means already exist in UNCLOS 1982, the UN treaty on the law of the sea, which India has signed and ratified [10].

• India's actual maritime security work is done by other bodies. Examples are the Navy's IOS SAGAR deployments with crews from nine IOR nations [9][11] and the coast guard heads' meeting at HACGAM [13].

• How to write this in Mains

• Treat Sagarmanthan as India's soft-power tool: it lets India host the conversation and present itself as a voice for smaller states ("every country has a voice") [1].
• Then say that India's claim to support the rules will be judged by what it does: its naval deployments and its respect for UNCLOS. A conference speech alone does not prove it.

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Port capacity utilisation fell from about 69% (2014) to about 58% (2025): capacity 1,400 → 2,762 MMTPA, cargo 972 → 1,594 MMT [7]
• Data: Indian-flagged gross tonnage grew only about 35% (10 → 13.52 MGT) while cargo grew about 64% [7]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, 'Progress made in Implementation of Sagarmala Projects' (March 2022): 172 of 802 projects completed; ₹20,000 crore cost overrun in port modernisation [15]
• Law/Case: UNCLOS 1982 — India is a State Party; it is the legal basis of the "rules-based order" [10]
• Scheme: Shipbuilding package (₹69,725 crore: MDF, SBFAS, SbDS) — meant to correct a fleet that is growing more slowly than India's trade [7]
• Scheme: Sagarmala — 272 of 840 projects done by 2025 [7]; at the current pace it will miss its 2035 target

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: India and its neighbourhood; bilateral, regional and global groupings; international institutions (UNCLOS).
• GS-III: Infrastructure (ports, shipping, waterways); Blue Economy; security challenges in maritime/border areas.
• GS-I: Indian culture, maritime history (Lothal, Cholas, Maratha navy).
• Question stems: 1. "A free, open and rules-based maritime order is central to India's Indo-Pacific strategy." Discuss in light of the transition from SAGAR to MAHASAGAR. (250 words) 2. Assess how far port-led development under Maritime India Vision 2030 has made Indian logistics more competitive. What structural gaps remain in shipbuilding? (250 words) 3. "India's relationship with the ocean is also about responsibility." Examine how India can balance the expansion of its blue economy with marine ecosystem protection. (150 words)

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• UNCLOS 1982 (EEZ, continental shelf, ITLOS): the legal basis of the "rules-based order".
• SAGAR → MAHASAGAR and IOS SAGAR: India's IOR doctrine and how it is put into practice.
• Sagarmala Programme: the core pillar of MIV 2030 and MAKV 2047.
• Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047: the long-term roadmap linked to Viksit Bharat.
• Shipbuilding package (MDF, SBFAS, SbDS): the industrial-policy side of maritime strategy.
• Deep Ocean Mission / ocean science: the PM's "ocean science and exploration" reference.
• Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and Quad maritime cooperation: strategic context for "free and open".
• National Maritime Heritage Complex, Lothal: heritage hook for GS-I.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Geography): UNCLOS 1982 is the legal basis of the 'rules-based maritime order' the PM calls for.
• Sagarmala Programme (Geography): Core port-led development programme under the maritime vision; its slow project delivery is a key test of the 2047 plan.
• Blue economy (Economy): The conference ties ports, shipbuilding and seafarers to sustainable use of ocean resources, a central GS-III theme.
• Exclusive economic zone (Geography): Freedom of navigation and resource rights under UNCLOS depend on EEZ rules, central to the rules-based order idea.
• Capacity utilisation (Economy): Port capacity nearly doubled but cargo grew slower, so utilisation fell from about 69% to 58%.
• Deep Ocean Mission (Geography): The PM's reference to ocean science and exploration refers to this mission for deep-sea resources.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Wrong organiser: it is MoPSW + ORF, not MEA, the Indian Navy or NITI Aayog [1].
• Wrong venue: the 1st edition was announced for Mumbai but held in New Delhi. Don't confuse it with India Maritime Week, which is held in Mumbai [3][4][7].
• Seafarer statistic: the PM said India has the "second-largest maritime workforce". The PIB backgrounder says 12% of the global workforce and among the "top three suppliers". Check which framing an MCQ is using [1][7].
• MIV 2030 vs MAKV 2047: MIV has 150+ initiatives and ₹3–3.5 lakh cr. MAKV has 300+ initiatives and ~₹80 lakh cr. They are easy to swap [7].
• SAGAR vs MAHASAGAR vs IOS SAGAR: SAGAR is the original vision, MAHASAGAR is its expanded form, and IOS SAGAR is a naval deployment that puts it into practice [11].