| Abstract: | India’s expanding role in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is often discussed in terms of strategy, naval capacity, and competition with other major powers. But alongside these visible developments, a quieter shift is also taking place. India is increasingly building influence through ocean science, through the production, sharing, and circulation of maritime knowledge. This paper examines how oceanographic institutions such as the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), and the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) have become part of India’s broader diplomatic engagement in the region. These agencies are usually understood as technical bodies focused on research and monitoring. However, their work increasingly intersects with regional diplomacy, especially through initiatives such as marine data-sharing, tsunami and cyclone early warning systems, disaster preparedness support, and scientific training programmes offered to neighbouring coastal and island states. By providing these services, which are often framed as public goods, India strengthens its partnerships in the IOR and positions itself as a reliable and capable regional actor. The paper argues that this form of ocean diplomacy carries an important normative dimension. India’s scientific cooperation is frequently presented through the language of shared vulnerability, environmental responsibility, and ecological stewardship. In this way, India’s oceanographic engagement does not only support strategic interests, but also helps shape expectations about how the Indian Ocean should be governed and who should be seen as a legitimate leader within it. Methodologically, this study is qualitative and interpretive, relying entirely on secondary sources including academic literature, institutional publications, and policy documents. It provides a conceptual analysis of how maritime science functions as a tool of influence and legitimacy-building. In the context of intensifying climate risks and growing competition over ocean data, the paper suggests that India’s rising maritime profile is increasingly tied not just to ships and security, but to knowledge, cooperation, and the politics of the ocean commons. |
