Articles from 2025 Archives - National Maritime Foundation

INDIA–NEW ZEALAND FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: STRATEGIC AND MARITIME IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA’S ENGAGEMENT WITH OCEANIA

Following several rounds of negotiations launched in March 2025, India and New Zealand concluded one of India’s fastest-negotiated Free Trade Agreements (FTA) in December 2025.[1] The Agreement significantly enhances…

BEYOND ZERO-SUM THINKING: INDIA’S STRATEGIC APPROACH TO TÜRKIYE’S GROWING PRESENCE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

Türkiye’s expanding interest in the Indian Ocean—manifested through defence exports, naval diplomacy, and its growing partnership with Pakistan—has increasingly been interpreted in Indian strategic circles through…

OUR OCEANIC FOUNDATION: WHY THE BLUE ECONOMY IS THE ENTIRE ECONOMY

The Blue Economy is often described as a sector of the economy — placed alongside the maritime sector or conflated with the “ocean economy” — limited to industries such as shipping, fisheries, offshore…

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

The term “strategic communication” has emerged as a buzzword within the existing public discourse in India. While the term has been a part of the strategic lexicon since time immemorial, it has…

UNDERSTANDING CHINA’S ACTIVE-DEFENCE STRATEGY — IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA AND TAIWAN

China has a declared ‘military strategy’ or ‘strategic guideline’ of ‘active defence.’ This has been put out in the public domain through its Defence White Papers (DWPs) published, commencing 1998. After…

REALIGNING INDIA’S NATIONAL MARITIME DAY TO KARTIK PURNIMA AND THE BALI JATRA- A POLICY PROPOSAL

India’s National Maritime Day, observed on 05 April each year, commemorates a single episode in India’s colonial history, the maiden voyage of the SS Loyalty under the British-Indian flag in 1919 from Bombay to London.[1] …

RECONNECTING ANCIENT SEA LANES THROUGH THE INDIA–OMAN MARITIME HERITAGE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Maritime Heritage and Museums during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Sultanate of Oman on 18 December 2025 marks a pivotal moment in India-Oman relations.[1] …

SOUTH AFRICA’S OCEAN20 — WHY THE G20 NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND AFRICAN OCEANS BETTER

Keywords G20; Oceans20 (O20); South Africa; African Union; Ocean20SA; Ocean Actions, Green Renewable Energy; Just Transition Each year, once the G20 Leaders’ Declaration is released, stakeholders across sectors begin parsing the…

LEVERAGING THE KOREAN MODEL FOR MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING IN INDIA

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has come to be globally acknowledged as a central mechanism for integrated and sustainable ocean governance. Conceptualised as an ecosystem-based and area-oriented planning framework,…

REVIEW OF “THE BLUE COMMONS: RESCUING THE ECONOMY OF THE SEA”

Author: Guy Standing. Penguin Random House UK, 2022. 584 pages, Rs. 965, ISBN: 978-0-241-47587-4 (Hard Bound) The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea, written by Guy Standing, draws attention to one of the planet’s…

TÜRKIYE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR INDIA VIS-À-VIS BANGLADESH — A BRIDGE TOO FAR

Keywords: TÜRKIYE–BANGLADESH RELATIONS, INDIA–BANGLADESH TENSIONS, TÜRKIYE IN SOUTH ASIA, STRATEGIC COMPETITION IN SOUTH ASIA, INDIA–BANGLADESH MARITIME COOPERATION, GEOPOLITICS OF BANGLADESH, EXTERNAL ACTORS…

CRITICAL REVIEW: THE BLUE ECONOMY INDEX 2025 (CHINA–INDIAN OCEAN BLUE ECONOMY THINK TANK NETWORK - CIOBEN)

Yangfang Li and Yishuang Yang. Blue Economy Index (2025) in the Indian Ocean: Contributing to a Sustainable and Innovative-driven Future. China–Indian Ocean Blue Economy Think Tank Network (CIOBEN), April 2025. Introduction The Blue…