A decade ago, on 12 March 2015, while commissioning in Mauritius the gleaming Offshore Patrol Vessel Barracuda, built in Garden Reach, Kolkata, to Mauritian specifications, Prime Minister Modi outlined India’s policy towards the Indian Ocean Region (IOR): SAGAR – Security and Growth for All in the Region. The Indian Ocean, he pointed out, was critical to the future of the world, bearing two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, one-third of its bulk cargo and half of its container traffic. The forty states that are on its littoral host nearly 40 per cent of the world’s population.
SAGAR policy emphasized five aspects: safety and security of the Indian mainland and island territories and ensuring a safe, secure and stable IOR; deepen economic and security cooperation with friends in the IOR particularly maritime neighbours and island states through capacity building; collective action and cooperation; seek a more integrated and cooperative future towards sustainable development for all; and increased maritime engagement in the IOR as the primary responsibility for the stability and prosperity of IOR lay with those living in the region. If SAGAR was the external outreach of India, in the national context, it was complemented by the Sagarmala port-led development initiative.
For long, India has been criticized for its continental bias, that it was focused on its northern and north-west frontiers to the neglect of its vast maritime interests. However, this has been changing. Since the launch of its Look East policy in 1992, which evolved into the proactive Act East policy in 2015, India has reclaimed its maritime legacy. PM Modi recently released a special coin commemorating 1000 years of Emperor Rajendra Chola’s naval achievements.
The Indian Navy has been in the forefront of maritime diplomacy through capacity-building initiatives, joint exercises, plurilateral conferences, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Search and Rescue (SAR) activities. The 2004 Tsunami established India’s credentials in disaster relief operations. India came to be recognized as the first responder and net security provider in the IOR, particularly to states in its neighbourhood. India’s prompt assistance to Myanmar in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and being the first country to deliver drinking water to the Maldives after a freshwater crisis in that country in end 2014 consolidated that image. In March 2025, India mounted a huge relief and rescue Operation Brahma to an earthquake that hit Myanmar.
India has now graduated to becoming a preferred security partner in the Indo-Pacific region, forming defence partnerships that not only include joint exercises and capacity building but also exports of defence equipment either as a grant or under a defence Line of Credit at the request of the partner state.
Trilateral maritime security cooperation with Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which began in 2011, has extended to other Indian Ocean states, including Mauritius and Bangladesh, with Seychelles as observer under the Colombo Security Conclave that now has a charter and a secretariat in Colombo. The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), which began as an initiative of the Indian Navy in 2008, is an inclusive platform to discuss maritime issues and to work out effective response mechanisms. IONS has 25 participating countries from South Asia, West Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia and European countries with Indian Ocean territories, as well as nine observers and a rotating chair (India will take over as chair at the end of 2025). MILAN is a biennial multinational exercise hosted by the Indian Navy in harmony with India’s vision of SAGAR and Act East policy.
A crucial facet of maritime security is enhanced maritime domain awareness. Towards this, India has also been pursuing white shipping agreements with several countries (22 have been concluded till now) and established a state-of-the-art Information Fusion Centre (IFC – IOR) in Gurugram that facilitates the sharing of maritime information among member states.
India has a long history of development partnership going back to the period prior to its Independence. Its approach to development partnership has been shaped by its independence struggle, solidarity with other colonized and developing countries and the inspiring leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, who declared that “my patriotism includes the good of mankind in general”. It is thus that India has been sharing its developmental experiences and technical expertise in a spirit of Vasudhaivakutumbakam (the ancient belief that the World is One Family). As PM Modi stated in his address to the Ugandan Parliament in 2018, “Our developmental partnership will be guided by your priorities, it will be on terms that will be comfortable for you, that will liberate your potential and not constrain your future…” The Indian model of developmental cooperation is comprehensive and involves multiple instruments including grant-in-aid, concessional lines of credit, capacity building and technical assistance. Above all, it is unconditional, transparent, sustainable and financially viable.
In June 2018 at the Shangri-La conference, PM Modi outlined India’s Indo-Pacific vision. For India, the Indo-Pacific stands for a free, open, inclusive region that “embraces us all in a common pursuit of progress and prosperity”. He emphasized ASEAN centrality, a rules-based order, freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law. There is great synergy between the Indian approach and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. In November 2019, at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok, India launched the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), a coherent initiative comprising seven pillars of practical cooperation built on the SAGAR vision. India’s active participation in the QUAD (Australia, India, Japan and the US) is part of our Indo-Pacific vision. Earlier, in 2014, India established FIPIC (Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation), a strategic initiative for strengthening diplomatic and economic engagement with islands in the Pacific Ocean.
It was in 2023, during India’s presidency of G-20, whose leitmotif was inclusivity, that the African Union was invited to join the grouping. India’s presidency, inter alia, revived multilateralism, amplified the voice of the global south and championed development. India has hosted three editions of the Voice of the Global South summit since then.
Ten years after SAGAR, during an official visit to Mauritius in 2025, PM Modi announced MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions), an updated doctrine. If SAGAR is the sea, then MAHASAGAR denotes ‘ocean’ in Hindi and several other Indian languages. MAHASAGAR marks a strategic evolution from a regional focus on the Indian Ocean to a global maritime vision, with particular emphasis on the global south. PM Modi’s recent engagements with Mauritius, the Maldives, Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana, and now the Philippines are aligned with the MAHASAGAR vision.

The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism in both Europe and Asia. Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied forces on 8 May 1945 in Europe. The Japanese fascists unconditionally surrendered on 2 September 1945 in Asia, which marked the official end of the entire World War II.
The Russian Federation, formerly the Soviet Union, held the grand parade celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War on 9 May 2025 in Moscow for Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. World War II in the European Theatre ended on 8 May 1945, following the Soviet troops’ conquest of Berlin on 2 May.
Likewise, the People’s Republic of China schedules to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War on 3 September 2025 in Beijing.
Commemorating the World War II V-Day military parades aims to honour humanity, peace and harmony of the world and to dedicate and pay high tribute to all the veterans, comrades and officers who sacrificed their souls during World War II in bringing back world peace. In addition, these V-Day parades serve to remind the nations to bear a spirit of unity in rejecting any forms of expansionism, hegemonism, neocolonialism and domination in today’s global era.
Asian Theatre in the Anti-Fascist War
The victory over Japanese fascists in the Far Eastern Theatre (the Asian frontline), especially by the Chinese and their allies, played a crucial role in the fight against the Axis Powers in World War II.
Documents suggest that at least 27 million people of the Soviet Union died in World War II on the European front line, both in the fights against the Nazis and the civilian fatalities in collateral damage. What is more, the Soviet Union suffered the highest number of casualties of other nations in the European Theatre in World War II. That was in Europe.
In the Asian frontline, the Chinese contribution in the wartime deserves earnest recognition, and China was one of the significant players in the Allied victory in Asia.
At least 35 million Chinese sacrificed their lives and souls in its War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression through the fights, collateral damages, famines and inhumane war crimes. History witnesses the most ferocious war crimes and humiliations (for instance, killings, massacres and rapes in Nanjing) committed by Japanese fascists against human dignity during World War II in Asia.
Battles in the Chinese territory were the bloodiest and longest among different theatres during the Second World War. The Chinese’s unwavering resistance against Japanese fascism for their national sovereignty within 14 years from 1931 to 1945 deserves respect and admiration. Only resilience, persistence and unity brought the world back to peace after the historic war.
Myanmar’s geostrategic location is vital in ending World War II
Myanmar also suffered aggression during World War II, and the people of Myanmar rose to fight against the fascists on 27 March 1945 on a nationwide scale. The day was primarily marked as Myanmar’s Resistance Day against Japanese fascists; then later became the Armed Forces Day of Myanmar, and the country commemorates annually on this day as the birth of its guardians – Myanmar’s Armed Forces (Tatmadaw).
Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country, is geo-strategically located at the junction between South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. The country’s position of sitting at the southern end of the Himalayas mountain ranges, to the bank of the Indian Ocean, and its heartland served as the crucial course for military logistics and supply route of the Allied forces in assisting Chinese resistance against Japanese fascism, which drew the war outcomes ending the fascism.
After Japanese forces occupied China’s seaports in 1937, the Chinese initiated construction of the Burma Road (the road linking Lashio in Myanmar to Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province). The road was designed to extend the supply line to the landlocked Yunnan with the mainland of Myanmar. Before Japanese forces cut off the Burma Road in 1942, it served as the primary course of military logistics to the interior of China from Yangon. Fuel, ammunition, and other military supplies from the Allied forces arriving in Yangon Port, then transported to Lashio by railway. Supplies were then transferred via the Burma Road (also known as the Lashio-Kunming Road), passing through Wanding, the China-Myanmar border gate.
Built in 1928 and once serving as the vital wartime lifeline, the Wanding Bridge continues its vital role in the bilateral trade corridor these days. Thus, the bridge still serves as an emblem of regional cooperation between Myanmar and China.
As a matter of fact, old British ancestors already noticed the potential of vital plots of connecting townships located in northern and northeast Myanmar, such as Bhamo, Lashio, Muse and Wanding, between Mandalay and Yangon with China at the very earliest, since colonial times.
When Japanese forces blockaded the Burma Road in 1942, Chinese and Allied forces created a bypass for the supply flow with the Ledo Road. Often overlooked in headlines and news, the forgotten Ledo Road played a crucial role in the China-Burma-India Theatre (the CBI) in the Second World War or the War Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Asia. Once a symbol of Allied forces’ unity, the road significantly influenced the fate and future of Asia.
Shared interests for peace
“Success was made possible only by the ability of men of all nations to work together. To maintain the peace, security and freedom for which all of us have fought,” said one of the World War II Archives.
Hence, the Allied forces’ resistance with unity and their resilient commitment to peace and mankind conquered wars, forces, barbarism and militarism in the Second World War. Togetherness, unity and standing shoulder to shoulder of the Allied forces or the Big Four brought back the world to peace.
Yet today, the need for such unity still remains more than ever. For safeguarding global peace, stability, and security, the major powers should continue to uphold mutual understanding and work together with shared responsibility.
Instead of adopting the political ideology of “There is neither such lasting friends nor enemies; but there is only permanent interest” which was frequently quoted by the Western world, people of all nations should embrace the following notion: “Friends should be permanent and interests should be shared,” which was said by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for a shared future; to long live the great unity of the people of the world; and for a shared interests.

GNLM

THE United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is scheduled to convene for a “Summit of the Future” in New York on 22-23 September 2024. The outcome of this meeting of world leaders will be the adoption of a “Pact for the Future”. During the past year, the details of the Pact have been discussed among the 193 UN member-states under the co-facilitation of Germany (representing the developed countries of the North) and Namibia (representing the developing countries of the South). The objective of the Pact is “to safeguard the future for present and coming generations”.

India’s approach towards the UN’s Summit of the Future was articulated by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in 2023. He emphasized the need to demonstrate “genuine solidarity” to generate “real trust” and integrate the “sentiment of the Global South” in preparing for the Summit. During the discussions in the UNGA in May 2024, India cautioned that if these essential elements were missing from the process, the Summit of the Future would become a “Summit of the Past”, condemning the United Nations “to a perilous vicious cycle of fading into irrelevance”.

The Global South consists of developing country member-states of the UNGA, many of them former colonies of European powers in 1945 who did not negotiate the UN Charter. Their membership in the United Nations began with the historic process of decolonization that began after India’s independence from British colonial rule in August 1947.

The Global South became a majority in the UNGA, propelled by the Decolonization Resolution of December 1960. The first visible expression of solidarity of the Global South in multilateralism was the successful adoption by a two-thirds majority vote of UNGA resolutions in December 1963 to amend the UN Charter. These amendments resulted in expanding the representation of the Global South in the UN Security Council (UNSC), which controls decisions on peace and security, and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which controls UNGA decision-making on socioeconomic issues.

Since 1960, the process of consolidation and prioritization of Global South priorities has been marked by several negotiating landmarks in multilateral institutions. This was due to the solidarity and sentiment of the Global South, based on trust in the effective and equitable functioning of the interlinked post-war multilateral system.

Among the Global South’s achievements have been the creation of the non-aligned movement in September 1961 which today brings together 120 member-states in the UNGA; the establishment of the Group of 77 (or G-77) in 1964 which today represents 134 out of 193 member-states in the UNGA; the creation of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) by the UNGA in 1965; the adoption of the G-77 Charter of Algiers in 1967 calling for a New International Economic Order; the Decision on Differential and More Preferable Treatment (also known as the Enabling Clause) for developing countries in the GATT (precursor of the World Trade Organization) in 1979; the UNGA Declaration on the Right to Development (DRTD) as an inalienable human right in 1986; and the Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) provision of international law, codified by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.

Through patient and forward-looking negotiations in the UNGA between 1960-2015, the Global South/G-77 has succeeded in bringing “development” into the mainstream of multilateralism. The unanimous adoption of Agenda 2030 by the UNGA in September 2015, with its 17 Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs), is an acknowledgement of this fact. Agenda 2030 converges the common interests of the Global North and Global South into an integrated human-centric framework in which peace, security, and development are interlinked. This is the sentiment that the Global South seeks to integrate into the vision of the Summit of the Future.

The UN’s SDG Summit in 2023, held to assess the implementation of Agenda 2030, warned that numerous crises since 2015 have been derailing this vision. Unless checked, these can have a deleterious impact on the Global South, particularly on the application of new digital technologies in a human-centric manner to accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2030. The Summit of the Future’s consideration of a Global Digital Compact requires special attention to the sentiments of the Global South in order to bridge existing digital divides enumerated during the UNGA review of the UN’s Tunis Agenda on an Information Society in December 2015.

The Global South’s focus during the Summit of the Future must be to seek effective multilateralism on the ground. A decision to convene a UN General Conference, as provided for in Article 109 of the UN Charter, to review the UN Charter in September 2025 would be an appropriate way to mark the 80th anniversary of multilateralism by integrating the aspirations of the Global South.