India Calls for an Open Indo-Pacific Where Every Country Makes Its Own Choices
On 14 October 2026, India's Defence Minister spoke at the first ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum, held at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) in New Delhi.
India said it wants an Indo-Pacific where all countries, big or small, can make their own choices and protect their own interests, and can cooperate without being forced to pick sides.
India linked its Act East Policy and its SAGAR and MAHASAGAR visions to "open, multipolar cooperation", carried out through ASEAN-led mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus). It said regional forums should cooperate, not compete.
India named shared priorities: sharing maritime domain awareness (knowing what is happening at sea), better coordination between navies and coast guards, and watching underwater activity.
India offered defence industry cooperation with ASEAN partners in patrol vessels, radars, air defence systems, helicopters and drones. It listed common threats such as terrorism, cybercrime, piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing and climate-related disasters.
The forum took place in 2026, which India and ASEAN have named the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.
SAGAR and MAHASAGAR: India's Indian Ocean Vision
SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. It is India's guiding idea for how it deals with its neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region. The idea is simple: India will help keep the ocean safe and help its neighbours grow, so that everyone in the region benefits together. In March 2025, India widened this idea into MAHASAGAR, short for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, which extends the same thinking to the wider Global South.
India presented SAGAR and MAHASAGAR at the ASEAN-India forum as proof that it wants open, multipolar cooperation, not rival blocs. Its offers on maritime domain awareness, navy and coast guard coordination and patrol vessels are the SAGAR toolkit, now being taken to Southeast Asia during the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.
Act East Policy
The Act East Policy is India's plan to build strong ties with the countries to its east: Southeast Asia (especially ASEAN), East Asia (like Japan and South Korea) and the wider Indo-Pacific (like Australia). It covers trade, connectivity, culture, people-to-people links and security. It was announced in November 2014 as an upgrade of the older Look East Policy. A special goal is to develop India's Northeast by linking it to Southeast Asia.
India told ASEAN partners that Act East, along with SAGAR and MAHASAGAR, is pursued through ASEAN-led mechanisms. The defence industry offers made at the forum, such as patrol vessels, radars and drones, show the security side of Act East that separates it from the older, trade-focused Look East Policy.
ASEAN: Structure, Membership, and Functioning
ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a regional group of Southeast Asian countries founded in 1967 by the Bangkok Declaration. It works by consultation and consensus, and it respects each member's sovereignty. ASEAN also runs wider forums that bring in outside powers, and it insists on "ASEAN centrality", meaning it should stay at the centre of the region's security and economic setup.
India said it gives great weight to ASEAN-led platforms like ADMM-Plus and wants forums to cooperate rather than compete. This supports ASEAN centrality and shows India's view that its own Indo-Pacific approach and ASEAN's outlook can work together.
- Event: first ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum, MP-IDSA, New Delhi, 14 October 2026
- 2026 is the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation
- SAGAR (2015) and MAHASAGAR (2025): both first announced in Mauritius
- Act East Policy announced in November 2014; ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since 2022
- Areas offered for defence industry cooperation: patrol vessels, radars, air defence systems, helicopters, drones
- Shared threats named: terrorism, cybercrime, piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing, climate-related disasters