Ms Saaz Lahiri is a Research Associate (RA) at the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), specialising in Indian and Regional Maritime Security. Her research primarily explores the impact of the European Union (EU), its member states, and the United Kingdom on India’s maritime geostrategies in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and, more broadly, the Indo-Pacific.

In December 2023, she became the youngest Indian professional to be nominated and selected for the prestigious European Union Visitors Programme (EUVP). She actively engages with Track One and Track One-point-five maritime professionals and stakeholders across the European Union, France, Italy, and India, fostering Track One-point-five discussion on maritime security cooperation.

Ms Lahiri has authored research papers focusing on India’s maritime security collaboration, defence partnerships, and strategic engagements with the EU, France, Germany, and Spain. Under the guidance of NMF’s senior leadership, she contributes to India’s maritime security policymaking by providing key inputs to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). She plays a crucial role in Track One-point-five India-EU Maritime Security Workshops, which the NMF conducts in collaboration with the EU’s Enhancing Security in and with Asia & the Indo-Pacific (ESIWA+) initiative. Her areas of interest include Maritime Situational Awareness (MSA), maritime defence cooperation, and non-traditional security threats, among other critical maritime security themes.

Being a naval kid and an international relations enthusiast, her interest in maritimity and policy-making is natural. She is an alumnus of the Navy Children School, Mumbai and Ashoka University, New Delhi, with a Bachelor’s Degree in History and International Relations and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Studies and Research in the field of International Relations. She is a keen swimmer, a trained dancer and a cat mom.

• India’s Engagement with the European Union and its constituent member-States within the maritime reaches of the Indo-Pacific.
• Maritime Security Spoke of the Indo-Pacific Ocean’s Initiative.
• Revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue 2.0
• India in Asian Geopolitics; Diplomacy and Statecraft