India’s vision of SAGAR

Jun 30, 2020

India’s vision of SAGAR

(Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Assessment)

What?

SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. According to this vision, India would do everything to safeguard its mainland and islands and defend its interests. Further, India will also work to ensure a safe, secure and stable Indian Ocean region (IOR).

What are its components?

SAGAR has various distinct and inter-related elements such as deepening economic and security cooperation in the littorals, enhancing capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories, working towards sustainable regional development, Blue Economy, and promoting collective action to deal with non-traditional threats like natural disasters, piracy, terrorism , etc.

Why do we need Vision of Sagar?

Sagar is important as the Indian Ocean has over forty littoral states bearing over 40 per cent of the world’s population. It is through the IOR that two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments; one-third of the world’s bulk cargo; and half of the world’s container traffic transit.
Around 90 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 90 per cent of its energy imports transit through these waters.
The IOR and its hinterland form the locus of about seventy percent of the world’s natural disasters resulting from earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, and floods.
In 2013, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh declared that India is a ‘net security provider’ in the Indian Ocean and it has continued since then.

SAGAR and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

Recent cases of HADR operation by Indian Navy

Operation Name	Country	Disaster/Relief
Operation Vanilla	Madagascar	Cyclone Diane which landfall in Madagascar and La Reunion late on January 24 causing heavy rain and flash floods.
	Mozambique	Cyclone Idai, a Category 4 tropical storm
Operation Blossom	Libya	Evacuation of stranded Indians in violence-hit Libya.
Operation Rahat	Yemen	Indian warships rescued over 3,000 stranded Indian citizens in Yemen.

What explains India’s leadership role in HADR?

Indian naval ships on overseas deployment are mandated to carry additional HADR kits for such possible events, thus enabling them to be well-prepared to undertake relief work. This has been possible due to a shift in Indian Navy’s deployment patterns from 2017 onwards to a dynamic ‘Mission Based Deployments’ in which Indian mission-ready ships are prepared round the clock to carry out anti-piracy patrol and provide humanitarian assistance when required. Such an approach provides Indian ships the requisite speed and flexibility to manoeuvre at the shortest possible time and provide assistance in its area of operations.