Ten years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled India’s maritime perspective of SAGAR, Security and Growth for All in the Region. In March 2025, this doctrine matured into MAHASAGAR: Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. This new strategic vision reorients India’s maritime focus beyond the Indian Ocean littoral to a broader arc encompassing East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the wider Indo-Pacific. MAHASAGAR reflects a pivot from presence to partnership, from proximity to proactive regionalism. A central facet of this evolution is India’s understated yet powerful tool of naval refit diplomacy.

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This transition itself was not merely rhetorical. It was born of India’s growing responsibilities as a preferred security provider and its aspiration to build an inclusive maritime order amid increasing geopolitical churn. The Indo-Pacific’s fragility, visible in sea-based coercion, piracy, and climate-induced disasters, has demanded new instruments of engagement. Naval refits have emerged as one of such unique strategic levers.

Refit diplomacy: a strategic enabler

Far from being routine maintenance work, naval refits have emerged as crucial instruments of strategic engagement and regional capacity building. Since 2023, India has prioritised refit of ships of friendly foreign navies across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Maldivian Coast Guard Ship MNDF Huravee underwent a full-spectrum refit at Mumbai Naval Dockyard. Similar work has been done on Seychelles' Zoroaster at GRSE and Mauritius’ MCGS Victory at Visakhapatnam Naval Dockyard. These ships now serve longer missions, perform better in humanitarian roles, and support anti-piracy and maritime domain awareness.

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More than upgrades, these refits are gestures of solidarity. Whether extended as grants or executed at concessional terms, they signal India’s commitment to building maritime capability without extractive dependencies. These refitted ships have been seen in joint patrols and multilateral exercises. Refits thus transform hardware into strategic capital, tools of operational readiness and trust.

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Globally, nations like Australia and South Korea have leveraged similar models of defence cooperation, but India’s model is distinct in its integration of capacity-building with indigenous production and diplomatic messaging. This convergence sets a precedent in strategic soft power.

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Dual engines of maritime capability

India’s maritime technical capacity today has two key engines: shipbuilding and ship repair. While India’s growing shipbuilding prowess is visible through platforms like INS Vikrant and Scorpene-class submarines, it is the ship repair and refit vertical that is quietly powering strategic diplomacy. The country’s naval and commercial yards now serve both Indian and friendly foreign ships, aligning technical excellence with foreign policy.

Key players include Naval Dockyards (Mumbai, Visakhapatnam), Naval Ship Repair Yards (Port Blair, Kochi, Karwar), and public-private shipyards like Cochin Shipyard Ltd., MDL, GRSE, HSL, L&T, and Pipavav Shipyard. For example, the recent INS Vikramaditya refit at Cochin Shipyard generated over 3,500 direct jobs and activated a wide network of MSMEs. According to government sources and industry bodies, such refits can engage over 400 MSMEs in supply chain services, including fabrication, cabling, electronic diagnostics, and logistic support. These engagements also address the critical challenge of ageing naval assets and help maintain operational readiness.

India’s refit capability is not just domestic, it is exportable. As refits for partner nations grow, they are helping position Indian yards as global FRS (Fleet Repair and Sustenance) hubs. International collaborations, such as Master Ship Repair Agreements (MSRAs) with the US Navy, amplify the commercial and strategic appeal of India’s maritime infrastructure. More importantly, India’s shipyards are evolving into innovation hubs, developing modular upgrades, adopting digital diagnostic tools, and training a new cadre of engineers and planners aligned with Make in India objectives.

Strategic partnerships over strategic contest

Unlike infrastructure-led maritime diplomacy, India’s refit model is relationship-first. Where some powers leverage debt-heavy port projects for political influence, India offers capacity building and co-ownership. Partner nations increasingly prefer India’s inclusive model, whether through refits in Mozambique, emerging submarine support in Vietnam, or the planned FRS hub at Duqm, Oman.

This isn’t about outbuilding a competitor; it is about out-partnering. India’s approach respects sovereignty, fosters interoperability, and ensures mutual benefit. India’s approach respects sovereignty, fosters interoperability, and ensures mutual benefit. Initiatives under SAGAR, supported by White Shipping Agreements and the ITEC maritime training framework, reinforce this shift towards cooperative maritime security, where India serves as both facilitator and partner.

Statements from regional officials from Maldivian defence representatives to East African maritime analysts have praised India’s role in making repair capacity accessible without political strings. These testimonials, though under-reported, illustrate the deep trust that India's maritime diplomacy has engendered.

Maritime bridges and the MAHASAGAR mandate

MAHASAGAR is not merely a strategy; it is a blueprint for maritime connectivity. Ships like INS Sunayna as IOS Sagar, crewed by multiple IOR nations, symbolise this shared responsibility. Shared crewing enables peer learning, fosters inter-operational compatibility, and builds mutual understanding between navies with different historical and operational cultures. Joint exercises, coordinated patrols, and mutual training programs serve as maritime bridges both infrastructural and institutional linking India with its regional partners.

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These bridges are not built with steel but with trust. They allow India to remain a reliable first responder in HADR situations, while creating interoperability that transcends language and legacy. MAHASAGAR envisions not just strategic space, but shared seascapes.

Strategic renewal of Indian defence shipyards

Refit diplomacy is also renewing India’s own naval industrial base. Projects like the INS Vikramaditya refit have catalysed investments, re-skilled the workforce, and enhanced the credibility of Indian yards as global players. This also aligns with national imperatives under "Make in India" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat," transforming shipyards into engines of growth and technology absorption.

From MSMEs in coastal states to design teams in naval headquarters, the entire ecosystem benefits from strategic repair engagements. According to a 2024 FICCI report, the Indian shipbuilding and repair industry has the potential to generate over 50,000 jobs over the next five years, with naval MRO forming a significant part of this growth. The dividends are not just tactical but economic—anchoring blue economy aspirations to tangible outputs. This process dovetails with broader national initiatives like the Sagar Mala Project and the development of India’s Blue Economy strategy, tying maritime infrastructure with economic upliftment.

MAHASAGAR as strategic continuum

MAHASAGAR isn’t just a rebranding of SAGAR; it is its strategic continuum. Naval refits offer India a rare opportunity to convert technical expertise into enduring partnerships. In a world wary of coercive diplomacy, India’s quiet maritime outreach offers a different template of collaboration, capability, and commitment.

Through strategic refits, India is not just maintaining ships; it is maintaining trust. It is forging a future where maritime security is shared, sovereignty is respected, and seas are seen not as divides, but as connectors. In doing so, India affirms its role as a dependable regional power and a maritime partner of choice across the Indo-Pacific.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)