India vows to emerge as shipbuilding power through external partnerships

India’s shipbuilding sector is experiencing a strategic transformation, driven by a convergence of geopolitical motives, national industrial goals, and ambitious maritime visions.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has launched a deliberate campaign to not only strengthen its indigenous shipbuilding capabilities but also to assert itself as a maritime power capable of countering China’s expanding presence via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its network of dual-use ports in the Indian Ocean.

India’s push for shipbuilding excellence is not solely economic, it is geopolitical.