Defence secy proposes Indo-Pacific ocean data exchange, maritime AI network

Rajesh Kumar Singh outlines four proposals to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through ocean data sharing, maritime AI, pollution monitoring and academic research

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Thursday proposed setting up an “Indo-Pacific ocean data exchange” and a regional maritime artificial intelligence (AI) network amid rising threats to strengthen cooperation among countries in the region.

 

Speaking at the valedictory session of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) 2026, an annual international strategic dialogue, Singh highlighted four proposals for regional cooperation in oceanographic data sharing, maritime AI, marine pollution monitoring and academic research.

 

The three-day conference was organised by the Indian Navy in association with the state-backed National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi on the theme of ‘Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific’.

 

Singh said the nature of maritime challenges is changing as technological disruptions extend beyond the surface of the oceans.

 

"Today we are living in an era where the primary arena of geopolitical friction, ecological vulnerability, and technological disruption is no longer confined to the surface of our waters," he said, pointing to undersea autonomous networks, submarine data cables and other critical infrastructure.

 

The secretary proposed establishing an Indo-Pacific ocean data exchange, a multilateral, cloud-based platform where member states could share and access non-sensitive oceanographic, bathymetric, tidal and meteorological data.

 

He said sharing information on seabed conditions, ocean currents and climate patterns could help smaller island nations, which lack the resources to operate satellites or expensive research vessels, monitor their exclusive economic zones and track illegal fishing and coastal erosion.

 

“By pooling our data, we can democratize maritime domain awareness (MDO),” Singh said.

 

Apart from data exchange, Singh proposed establishing a regional maritime AI network connecting research centres across the region to develop open-source AI models for MDO, which could help analyse large volumes of sensor data, identify unusual maritime activity and distinguish legitimate commercial shipping from suspicious movements, including shadow fleet tankers.

 

“We could look at creating a regional maritime AI network to link premier AI research centers across the Indo-Pacific for co-developing specialized open-source AI foundation models for maritime domain awareness,” Singh said.

 

He also called for algorithmic transparency and human oversight to ensure that AI deployed in the maritime domain remains consistent with international humanitarian law and does not trigger unintended escalation.

 

“The third suggestion is deployment of a marine pollution and ecological early warning system to integrate multispectral satellite imagery with autonomous coastal patrol vessels equipped with chemical biosensors,” Singh said, adding that it would generate “real-time public heat maps” of contamination and unlawful extraction, helping detect chemical leaks and toxic spills within minutes.

 

He also proposed institutionalising a multilateral fellowship programme, jointly funded by India and its regional partners, on the lines of the Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships, to support scholars, professors, naval practitioners and doctoral students every year.

 

The Defence Secretary said these initiatives should build on India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in 2019.

 

He described the IPOI as "not a military pact" but an open, collaborative platform, urging countries to move beyond conferences and memoranda of understanding towards practical cooperation through data sharing, technology development, personnel training and early warning systems.