Panelists
Amb. Rajiv Bhatia
Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House
Ms. Swati Ganeshan
Visiting Fellow, Chintan Research Foundation
Dr. Cchavi Vasisht
Associate Fellow, Chintan Research Foundation
Mr. SK Tripathi
Former R&AW Chief
Mr. Nitin Gokhale
Founder, StratNews Global
Dr. Shalini Chawla
Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies
Col. Vivek Chadha
Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Brig. Rahul Bhonsle
Director, Security Risks Asia
Prof. Chintamani Mahapatra
Founder and Honorary Chairman, Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies
Captain Sarabjeet S Parmar
Distinguished Fellow, Council for Strategic and Defence Research
Mr. Jayant Mishra
Member, Executive Council, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
Prof. A Subramanyam Raju
Centre for South Asian Studies, Pondicherry University
Dr. Pragya Pandey
Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA)
Prof. Gulshan Sachdeva
Centre for European Studies, JNU
Amb. Preeti Saran
Former Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs
Ms. Ruchita Beri
Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF)
Event Report
On 23 May 2025, Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) organised a day-long conference titled, ‘The MAHASAGAR Initiative in the Current Security Context.’ The keynote address was delivered by Admiral R K Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd) who was the 22nd Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy and currently the Chairman for Society for Aerospace Maritime and Defense Studies (SAMDeS).
Across four engaging panels, the conference explored significant themes: the strategic evolution to MAHASAGAR, the current security dynamics of India, the mission to secure maritime frontiers against challenges, and the ways to strengthen India’s economic and strategic partnerships under the MAHASAGAR framework. The conference catalysed the public discourse on India’s maritime strategy and convened a distinguished gathering of scholars and practitioners from academia, government, and industry to engage in profound discussions on India’s strategic evolution to MAHASAGAR.
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