IPRD-2026 Opens in New Delhi on Science and Technology

The Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2026 (IPRD-2026), the Indian Navy's annual apex-level international strategic dialogue, began in New Delhi on 3 November 2026. The three-day conference is organised along with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), which is the Navy's knowledge partner, and its theme this year is 'Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific'. The emphasis is on turning scientific advances and institutional partnerships into practical regional cooperation.

The question before the dialogue

The opening day framed the central question of the conference: how the Indo-Pacific can convert scientific knowledge and technological innovation into lasting institutional cooperation, stronger maritime capability and shared regional resilience. The inaugural address was delivered by Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi (Retd), Chairman of the National Maritime Foundation and a former Chief of the Naval Staff. A special address followed from Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (Retd), National Maritime Security Coordinator of the Government of India.

The two professional sessions

• The first session took up 'Academic Networks, Research, and Human Capital Development'. Moderated by Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru (Retd), a former Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, it carried views from France, Indonesia, Japan and the Maldives. It weighed a wider Indian Ocean academic network, cooperation among universities in Indo-Pacific coastal cities, social-science research networks in the Indian Ocean and closer links between think tanks, universities and governments. A monograph titled 'Sea Blindness and Maritime Heritage in India' was released at the end of the session.
• The second session dealt with 'Maritime Situational Awareness and Protection of Critical Maritime Infrastructure'. Moderated by Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti (Retd), also a former Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, it examined the opportunities and difficulties of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), especially the practical demands of sharing information, and looked at building a cooperative architecture for underwater domain awareness. The Indian Ocean Commission offered its approach to protecting critical maritime infrastructure.

Ambassadors at the table

The day also featured 'Sahyog Ka Samvaad', a special ambassadorial interaction hosted and moderated by Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan (Retd), Director-General of the National Maritime Foundation. It brought together Mahishini Colonne, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka; Josel F Ignacio, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Philippines; and May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway.

What the first day produced

Taken together, the two professional sessions asked how technological systems and scientific partnerships can be made operationally useful, by strengthening the sharing of maritime information, safeguarding critical undersea infrastructure, widening access to oceanographic knowledge and allowing a better coordinated answer to climate-related risks. The day closed with several actionable policy recommendations from the audience on regional cooperation in science and technology and on sharing knowledge through academic collaboration.