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    OPINION                                                                   MAY 15, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 11

            interests shaped by available capabil-                                                                thinking. Unlike earlier strategy doc-
            ities.                                                                                                uments, which were shaped primarily
                Its  most  important  innovation,                                                                 by the need to assert maritime rele-
            therefore, is the distinction between                                                                 vance  or  to  widen  the  Navy’s  secu-
            Area of Maritime Interest (AoI) and                                                                   rity  role,  the  2026  strategy  is  more
            Area  of  Responsibility  (AoR).  The                                                                 attentive  to  persistent  competition,
            former  denotes  areas  where  devel-                                                                 implementation risk, and the gap be-
            opments may affect Indian interests;                                                                  tween expanding interests and avail-
            the latter refers to zones where des-                                                                 able means. In that respect, it reflects
            ignated commanders have authority                                                                     a  Navy  increasingly  concerned  not
            to plan and conduct operations. This                                                                  only with what maritime power can
            distinction is analytically significant.                                                              achieve but also with how it can be
            It separates awareness from control                                                                   sustained.
            and interest from assured capability.                                                                     The  document’s  importance
            In practical terms, it allows the Navy                                                                also  lies  in  the  closer  relationship
            to justify broad surveillance, partner-                                                               it  establishes  between  doctrine  and
            ship-building  and  contingency  plan-  INMSS-2026 should be read less as a dramatic doctrinal break and more as evidence of a   strategy. Concepts that appeared in
            ning across a wide geographical area        maturing strategic realism in Indian maritime thinking (File photo)  embryonic form in the Indian Mar-
            while  acknowledging  that  sustained                                                                 itime  Doctrine  2025—particularly
            operational  response  must  remain                                                                   ‘No War No Peace’ conditions, part-
            selective and prioritised.        ian  assistance  and  disaster  relief,   dustrial  capacity,  cyber  defence  ca-  nership-based security roles and in-
                The  distinction  also  has  insti-  non-combatant  evacuation  opera-  pabilities,  multi-agency  intelligence   tegrated multi-domain operations—
            tutional  relevance  in  the  context  of   tions,  and  sustained  maritime  part-  frameworks and inter-ministerial co-  are given clearer strategic expression
            prospective  theatre  commands  and   nerships in the Indian Ocean Region.   ordination.              here. This suggests a more iterative
            wider  joint  reforms.  By  recognis-  In addition, maritime issues now oc-  Delivering  across  this  spectrum   and  self-correcting  process  of  doc-
            ing  that  command  responsibilities   cupy a more prominent place in In-  requires  not  only  platforms  and  in-  trinal  development  than  in  earlier
            may not automatically map onto the   dia’s broader strategic discourse than   frastructure  but  also  specialist  per-  cycles.
            full  spectrum  of  maritime  interests,   in earlier decades, aided by growing   sonnel, digital networks, intelligence   The  larger  challenge,  however,
            INMSS-2026  appears  to  anticipate   trade  dependence,  connectivity  ini-  integration  and  sustained  mainte-  remains  unchanged.  India’s  mari-
            a more distributed future command   tiatives  and  repeated  disruptions  to   nance  capacity.  The  strategy  itself   time  profile  is  rising  faster  than  its
            architecture.  Simultaneously,  by  re-  global supply chains.      acknowledges  shortfalls  in  planned   capacity to meet the obligations that
            affirming  the  Navy  as  the  principal   These  developments  provide  a   force  levels  and  capability  require-  accompany  it.  Yet  INMSS-2026  en-
            maritime instrument, the document   stronger  political  and  institutional   ments, as well as shortages in special-  ters implementation with advantages
            suggests  that  maritime  operations   context for implementation than was   ist domains such as cyber, space and   its predecessors did not fully possess:
            should  remain  professionally  led   available to either the 2007 or 2015   artificial intelligence. This candour is   a more integrated doctrinal founda-
            by naval expertise even within joint   strategies.                  notable, but it also underscores the   tion, greater operational experience,
            structures.                           At the same time, INMSS-2026   scale  of  the  implementation  chal-  wider  strategic  recognition  of  mari-
                Yet  the  underlying  tension  re-  is  arguably  the  most  demanding  of   lenge.               time priorities, and a clearer appre-
            mains  unresolved.  Expanding  inter-  the  three  documents  to  implement.   A  second  uncertainty  concerns   ciation of risk.
            ests  generate  persistent  demands   Its ambitions span deterrence, grey-  the evolving architecture of jointness   If  earlier  strategies  were  of-
            for  presence,  escort,  surveillance,   zone  competition,  coastal  security,   and theatre reform. INMSS-2026 ex-  ten  judged  by  what  they  promised,
            logistics,  humanitarian  response   regional  partnership,  conflict  oper-  plicitly notes that impending theater-  INMSS-2026  is  more  likely  to  be
            and deterrence across multiple the-  ations,  logistics  resilience,  techno-  isation may affect the strategy’s ten-  judged by how effectively it prioritis-
            atres.  These  commitments  require   logical  adaptation  and  global  situa-  ure  and  require  adaptation.  While   es under constraint. Its enduring val-
            platforms,  infrastructure,  trained   tional awareness. This broad gamut   greater  integration  could  improve   ue may lie in helping India convert
            manpower  and  budgetary  continui-  of priority areas reflects recognition   resource  efficiency  and  joint  warf-  a selective maritime advantage into
            ty. Strategy can refine priorities, but   of the complex maritime threats that   ighting, transitional uncertainty over   sustainable  strategic  influence,  with
            it  cannot  eliminate  resource  con-  have emerged in recent years. For in-  command  relationships,  prioritisa-  greater discipline and confidence.
            straints.  INMSS-2026  is  therefore   stance, the growing threat to Critical   tion,  and  service  roles  may  compli-
            notable  less  for  claiming  unlimited   Undersea  Infrastructure  (CUI)  due   cate near-term implementation.  Commodore Abhay Kumar Singh
            reach  than  for  recognising,  more   to grey-zone warfare has been high-  Finally,  India’s  enduring  con-  (Retd) is a Research Fellow at the
            openly  than  its  predecessors,  that   lighted in the strategy.   tinental  commitments  remain  rel-  Southeast Asia and Oceania Centre in
            maritime ambition must be managed     As  noted  earlier,  the  strategy’s   evant.  Maritime  prioritisation  has   the Institute for Defence Studies and
            through calibrated selectivity.   emphasis on concepts such as UDA   increased,  but  defence  resources   Analyses, New Delhi. Dr. R. Vignesh
                INMSS-2026  enters  implemen-  and seabed domain awareness stems   continue to be shared across multiple   is an Associate Fellow at the Centre
            tation  with  certain  advantages  that   from  this  concern.  Furthermore,   theatres and contingencies. The cen-  for Military Affairs, Manohar Parrikar
            earlier  strategy  documents  lacked.   INMSS-2026 notably reorients its ap-  tral challenge, therefore, is not con-  Institute for Defence Studies and Anal-
            It  follows  closely  after  the  publica-  proach towards warfighting through   ceptual coherence but sustained exe-  yses (MP-IDSA).
            tion of the Indian Maritime Doctrine   a  whole-of-nation  approach.  The   cution. INMSS-2026 provides a more   Views expressed are of the authors and
            2025,  thereby  reducing  the  concep-  strategy  explicitly  indicates  that  the   refined framework than its predeces-  do not necessarily reflect the views of
            tual lag that often separates doctrine   Indian  Navy  fully  recognises  that   sors; whether it succeeds will depend   the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
            from strategy in previous cycles. The   success in warfighting can no longer   on the extent to which resources, in-  Government of India
            new  strategy  also  benefits  from  an   rely solely on military operations. It   stitutions and political attention keep
            Indian  Navy  that  has  accumulated   emphasises that success in warfight-  pace with strategic ambition.  The full version of this article first ap-
            substantial  operational  experience   ing  can  only  be  achieved  through   INMSS-2026  should  be  read   peared in the Comments section of the
            across a wide range of missions, in-  comprehensive  synergy  encompass-  less  as  a  dramatic  doctrinal  break   website (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Par-
            cluding  mission-based  deployments,   ing  diplomatic  initiatives,  economic   and more as evidence of a maturing   rikar Institute for Defense Studies and
            anti-piracy  operations,  humanitar-  instruments,  national  defence  in-  strategic realism in Indian maritime   Analyses, New Delhi, on May 6, 2026

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