The Bay of Bengal Fulcrum: Explaining India's New Maritime Security Vision

What is the SHANTI framework?

The SHANTI (Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity) framework, unveiled by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on July 13, 2026, represents the latest evolution in India's maritime security thinking. It is not a new institution or a military alliance, but a normative doctrine—a set of guiding principles designed to shape regional cooperation. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, its core purpose is to shift the focus of maritime security from competition and military power to demand-driven cooperation and long-term resilience. The framework prioritises establishing shared norms, building mutual trust, and ensuring integrity in cooperative actions as the basis for durable security.

The introduction of SHANTI is a response to a perceived gap in the regional security architecture. While the capacities of littoral states to monitor their waters have grown, this has not been matched by the development of common rules and coordinated mechanisms, particularly for non-traditional threats. As noted by analysts Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy and Raghvendra Kumar (The Hindu, July 31, 2026), the Bay of Bengal, one of the world's most disaster-prone regions, still lacks a robust, coordinated mechanism to respond to natural calamities, illegal fishing, and the maritime dimensions of humanitarian crises like the Rohingya refugee situation.

How does SHANTI evolve from SAGAR and MAHASAGAR?

SHANTI is officially positioned as a logical progression of India's previous maritime doctrines, providing the operational 'how' for the 'what' and 'where' established by its predecessors. The evolution began in 2015 with SAGAR, which articulated India's foundational intent to be a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region, framing maritime security as an issue of collective development. A decade later, the MAHASAGAR doctrine of 2025 expanded this strategic reach, formally connecting security challenges in the Indian Ocean with the wider Indo-Pacific and the Global South.