2-Nov-2022: Goa Maritime Symposium 2022

Fourth edition of biennial Goa Maritime Symposium was conducted successfully by the Indian Navy at Goa from 31 October to 01 November 2022.

Coming out of the shadows of global COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Navy was delighted to witness physical participation of overseas delegates from all 12 invitees. Representatives from Navies and Maritime Agencies from 12 Friendly Foreign Indian Ocean littoral countries, which included Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, besides India, attended the Symposium, conducted by the Naval War College, Goa.

Commodore Nitin Kapoor, Deputy Commandant, Naval War College delivered the welcome address and the Symposium was formally inaugurated by Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar, NM, Commandant, Naval War College.

Over the two days of the Symposium, the participants deliberated upon several maritime security aspects of contemporary relevance. The theme for GMS-22 was ‘Maritime Security Challenges in the Indian Ocean Region: Converting Common Maritime Priorities into Collaborative Mitigation Frameworks’. Through four panel discussions with dedicated sub-themes, the participants were successful to garner a clear vision for an outcome oriented agenda for the Goa Maritime Conclave which would be hosted by the Indian Navy in 2023.

Commodore Anil Jaggi, Commodore (Foreign Cooperation), in his closing address, thanked all participants for their enthusiastic participation and valuable contribution during the Goa Maritime Symposium-22.

The participants also availed the opportunity to visit Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) on 01 November 2022 to witness, first hand, the indigenous ship building capabilities of Indian Shipyards. The delegates visited Indian Naval Ship Pralay, a Guided Missile Vessel, constructed by the GSL in 2002 and were also shown the construction and repair areas including Ship Lift facility.

India has consistently advocated of the concept of ‘Collective Responsibility’ for maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region. The Goa Maritime Symposium and the Goa Maritime Conclave, conducted by the Indian Navy in alternating years is a manifestation of such efforts.

Guided by the vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region), the Indian Navy looks forward to hosting the Goa Maritime Conclave in year 2023.

10-Nov-2021: Goa Maritime Conclave - 2021

The 3rd edition of Goa Maritime Conclave, successfully conducted from 07 to 09 November 2021 at Goa, brought together the Chiefs of Navy/ Heads of Maritime Agencies of IOR littorals, namely, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The theme for GMC-21, “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies”, was derived keeping in mind the necessity of ‘winning everyday peace’ in the maritime domain.

Delivering the Conclave Address, Shri Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary highlighted GMC’s symbolism of India’s constructive engagement in the IOR and that the Maritime Security and Economic prosperity are inter-related and inter-dependent since time immemorial. He also stressed on the role played by constructive engagements such as IONS, IORA, BIMSTEC, Colombo Security Conclave, etc. towards promoting pluralistic cooperation for Maritime Security. Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary, during his Keynote Address reiterated maritime transport and logistics as major components of Blue Economy and its significance to IOR littorals. He laid emphasis on institutional dialogues between maritime security agencies, towards building relationships and processes that contribute to improvement of security related outcomes.

The various panel discussions saw enriching contribution from eminent scholars, subject matter experts and veteran Naval officers wherein relevant insights, thought provoking ideas and possible solutions were put forth on the GMC-21 theme. A ‘Make in India’ Defence and Shipyard Pavilion was also inaugurated by the Chief of the Naval Staff, wherein DPSUs/ private shipyards viz M/s MDL, GSL, L&T and Chowgule Global, Goa, showcased their shipbuilding capabilities. The visiting delegations were also provided with a first-hand demonstration of Indian Navy’s Deep Submergence and Rescue Vessel (DSRV) capabilities towards promoting a submarine rescue mechanism for IOR, along with a tour onboard Guided Missile Destroyer INS Kochi, to showcase India’s indigenous shipbuilding prowess.

In his Closing Remarks, Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff brought out that GMC should move beyond dialogue and focus on cogent outcomes. He proposed four guiding principles for future editions, viz., iterative and incremental gains, harnessing complementarities, synchronisation and focussed operations, and lastly up-skilling and up-scaling existing capabilities.

The Conclave also saw declaration of ‘Common Maritime Priorities’, which had been identified during the Goa Maritime Symposium 21, earlier this year.

With the culmination GMC 21, all Nations agreed to endeavour, to work together on the deliverables and take forward further constructive activities in the future editions.

2-Nov-2017: India offers to share real-time maritime data with 10 Indian Ocean littoral states.

India has made an offer to share intelligence of maritime movements in the Indian Ocean in real-time with 10 Indian Ocean littoral States.

10 Indian Ocean littoral States will benefit from this initiative. The information to be shared includes movement of commercial traffic as well as intelligence. The information sharing is not so much for conventional military purposes but to deal with non-traditional threats arising at sea. This comes even as India gears up to counter China’s increased presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) was inaugurated at the Tarang Auditorium of INS Mandovi, Goa. The conclave was aimed at “Addressing Regional Maritime Challenges” wherein the deliberations were focused on emerging maritime threats and force structuring, maritime domain awareness, maritime security architecture, and maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region(IOR).

Significance of GMC: GMC aims to bring together like minded nations to evolve and formulate collective responses to emerging challenges in the maritime domain. It would also provide an opportunity to communicate our viewpoints in a forthright manner and collectively shape a favourable maritime environment for all countries in the region. Political and economic interactions between the stake holders in the IOR has great impact on regional dynamics in international geo-politics.

29-Oct-2022: Naval Commanders' Conference, 2022

The second edition of Naval Commanders' Conference of 2022 is scheduled from 31 Oct to 03 Nov 22 at New Delhi. The conference serves as a platform for Naval Commanders to discuss important maritime matters at the military-strategic level through an institutionalised forum. Due to the dynamic and fast-paced developments in security imperatives in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as well as in other parts of the world, the Conference has its own significance and relevance.

Amongst many issues being discussed, the Chief of the Naval Staff, along with other Naval Commanders will review major Operational, Materiel, Logistics, Human Resource Development, Training and Administrative activities undertaken by the Indian Navy in the last few months and further deliberate upon future plans for important activities and initiatives. The conference would also dwell upon the dynamics of the geostrategic situation of the region and the Navy’s readiness to deal with the same.

The Navy has focused on being a Combat Ready, Credible and Cohesive force with a future-ready outlook and continues to assiduously execute its mandate. The Indian Navy has witnessed significant growth in its operational tasking over the years in consonance with India’s rising maritime interests. Indian Navy’s standing as the ‘Preferred Security Partner’ has also grown concomitantly in recent times. Indian Navy is poised to counter all maritime security challenges emerging due to uncertain geo-strategic situations in IOR and beyond.

During the Conference, the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will address and interact with the Naval Commanders on matters pertaining to national security. The Chief of Defence Staff and the Chiefs of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force would also interact with the Naval Commanders to address the convergence of the three Services vis-à-vis the common operational environment, and avenues of augmenting Tri-Service synergy and readiness towards the defence of the nation and India’s national interests.

26-Oct-2017: Defence minister addresses Naval Commanders’ Conference

The Defence minister addressed the Naval Leadership during the ongoing Naval Commanders’ Conference (24-27 Oct 17) being held at New Delhi. This is the second edition of this year’s bi-annual Naval Commanders’ Conference.

At the very outset, the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri complimented all personnel of the Indian Navy for securing the maritime interests of the nation. Taking note of the recent developments in our maritime neighbourhood, she emphasised the need for the Indian Navy to be strong at sea, and be ever ready and vigilant to counter any challenges in the maritime domain.

The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri acknowledged the high operational tempo maintained by the Navy in the last one year through regular deployment of ships, submarines and aircraft from the South China Sea and Sea of Japan in the East to the Persian Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the shores of Australia in the South including the focused efforts to deter piracy attempts off the Gulf of Aden. Participation in a number of bilateral exercises and the unprecedented success of the Exercise MALABAR with the US and the Japanese Navy earlier this year were lauded by the Raksha Mantri.

Recognising the lead taken by Indian Navy in indigenisation and self-reliance, the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri stated that it is the collective responsibility of Service Headquarters, the Ministry and the Industry to promote a more vibrant ecosystem percolating down to the MSMEs, to encourage development of equipment and systems in India and to reduce import dependence in the Defence sector.

She took note of the critical capability shortfalls that the Navy is facing in ship-borne multi-role helicopters, conventional submarines and mine counter measure vessels, which need urgent redressal to maintain the combat edge of the Navy. The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri assured the Commanders’ that that these issues were being given due impetus and efforts were in hand to mitigate these shortcomings at the earliest.

The Hon’ble Raksha Mantri also commended the efforts of the Navy to constructively engage with the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) littorals to build their capacities and enhance their capabilities. She also mentioned the initiatives taken by the Indian Navy to impart practical training for naval personnel from IOR littoral nations on a regular basis. Institutionalizing a full-fledged regional-forum to help find collective solutions to matters maritime in the IOR and facilitate projection of India’s and Indian Navy’s strategic and operational vision to a wider regional and global audience through the ‘Goa Maritime Conclave’ to be held early next month was also praised by the Hon’ble Minister. She further stated that MILAN 2018 at Port Blair early next year would be an excellent forum to get the littoral Navies on a common platform to discuss regional maritime issues and security challenges.

Concluding her address the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri stated that maritime interests of a nation have a vital relationship with its economic growth and these shall be protected at all costs by ensuring a strong and credible Indian Navy.

The four-day long Naval Commanders’ Conference is in its third day of deliberations wherein the top-level leadership of Navy is reviewing major operational, training and administrative activities undertaken in the last six months. The conference also reviewed IN’s readiness to deploy over the entire range of missions in the maritime domain (the new Mission-based Deployment Concept).

22-Oct-2017: Bi-Annual Naval Commanders’ Conference to be held at New Delhi from - 24-27 oct 17

 A four day Naval Commanders’ Conference is scheduled at New Delhi from 24-27 Oct 17. The Conference serves as a platform for institutionalized interaction between the Naval Commanders and senior government officials, as also, with the Chiefs of Indian Army and Indian Air Force.  

The Hon’ble RM will address and interact with the Commanders’ during the bi-annual conference. The Chief of the Naval Staff, with the Commanders’-in-Chief, will review major Operational, Materiel, Human Resource, Training and Administrative activities undertaken in the last six months and deliberate the way-ahead on important activities and initiatives. An interaction is also planned with Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog to provide the Commanders’ a perspective on broader national interests.  

The Navy’s combat readiness would be reviewed with focus on operational effectiveness of combat platforms, logistics and development of shore support infrastructure for sustaining distant operations. Efforts towards ‘indigenisation and standardisation’ so as to make the Navy self-reliant and modernise its warfare capability by means of unmanned systems would also be examined. Aspects complementary to combat effectiveness, such as Training, Human Resource Management, Fleet Maintenance and pan-Navy measures for enhancing safety will be reviewed. With reference to safety, IN Safety Organisation including rescue support during submarine accidents in the IOR will be discussed. The Commanders’ will also review the security of establishments in the backdrop of terrorist threats and the prevailing security scenario.  

The Commanders will also discuss plans for ‘enhancing and sustaining IN’s operational footprint in the IOR’ in keeping with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’ (SAGAR). In this regard, initiatives to further maritime cooperation with other navies in the IOR as also the IN’s ability to proactively respond to maritime security challenges, including natural calamities, in the IOR will be reviewed.