New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the global maritime security environment was under strain due to deliberate trade disruptions, challenges to freedom of navigation and the weaponisation of narrow maritime passages, warning that growing instability in the maritime domain was casting a long shadow over the broader international order.

Addressing the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2026 in New Delhi, Singh said certain actors and nations were seeking to exploit the strategic importance of oceans for narrow unilateral gains and deny the shared benefits of the seas to humankind.

"Certain actors and nations seek to exploit the criticality of the oceans for narrow unilateral gain; by pursuing selfish leverag...