India, June 2 -- India long underutilised its maritime potential. That is changing rapidly. Through sweeping reforms, modern ports, green shipping initiatives, and major infrastructure investments, India is emerging as a leading maritime power.

The sea does not forgive strategic ambivalence. Nations that have ceded control of maritime chokepoints, neglected their shipbuilding base, or outsourced the transshipment of their own cargo to foreign intermediaries have, without exception, paid a steep geopolitical price. India, for much of its post-Independence history, was content to watch from the shoreline. That posture is now being dismantled, deliberately, systematically, and with a clarity of national purpose that commands attention.

The...