Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2026 Concludes in New Delhi

The Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2026 (IPRD-2026), which is the Indian Navy's annual apex-level international strategic dialogue, came to a close in New Delhi on 5 November 2026 after running for three days. It was put together in association with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF).

The theme and the format

The conference took up the subject of Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. It worked through five professional thematic sessions along with senior-level interactions, the aim being to identify practical routes to maritime cooperation across the region rather than to restate the problem.

The concluding day

The last day began with a Special Address by General NS Raja Subramani, the Chief of Defence Staff, who then took questions from the audience. A session on collaborative approaches to ocean governance and maritime resilience followed, moderated by Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh (Retd), Director-General of the United Service Institution of India. Professor Deo Florence Onda of the University of the Philippines offered a plan for sharing Filipino expertise in ocean governance; Dr Marie Bourrel-McKinnon, once Chief of Staff at the International Seabed Authority, took up equitable deep-sea research partnerships and the governance of resources; Ramraj Narasimhan of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure described how the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States programme is being carried out; and Sofia Furstenberg-Stott of Future Maritime, Sweden, examined the link between marine science and shipping operations.

The final session

The closing session was built around transformative maritime technologies and their dual-use implications, and was moderated by Rear Admiral Guninder Singh Jawanda (Retd). Dongyoun Cho of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Germany, set out a working framework for regional cooperation on artificial intelligence and quantum technologies at sea. Dr Eva Pejsova of the Brussels School of Governance spoke on European Union mechanisms for governing dual-use maritime technologies responsibly. Captain Mark Blaine (Retd) of the South African Navy, now at Stellenbosch University, discussed a roadmap for small and medium navies, while Commodore Arun Golaya (Retd) addressed navy-to-navy cooperation.

Who attended and what it added up to

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh delivered the Valedictory Address. Over three days the dialogue drew military practitioners, policy makers, people from the maritime industry, diplomats from India and friendly countries, academics, media and students of New Delhi. More than forty experts and distinguished speakers from twenty countries spoke on the unifying theme, giving sharper shape to outcomes under the Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation pillar of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. The conference also gave clearer expression to India's maritime vision, MAHASAGAR, which stands for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions.