At the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2025, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi announced the expansion of the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) from 15 to 50 International Liaison Officers by 2028.
At the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue 2025, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi announced the expansion of the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) from 15 to 50 International Liaison Officers by 2028.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy will expand the Information Fusion Centre–Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) from 15 to about 50 International Liaison Officers (ILOs) by 2028, even as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has recognised the Gurugram-based node as a voluntary reporting centre.
Announcing the push at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD-2025), the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said the upgrade is driven by “near-daily episodes of GPS jamming and electronic interference” recorded across the Indian Ocean Region.
Framing today’s maritime environment as a “dynaxic” challenge, which is both dynamic and complex, the Navy chief argued that security can no longer be viewed through a narrow, threat-only lens. Instead, he called for a holistic maritime security approach that links deterrence, governance, law enforcement, environmental stewardship and humanitarian response.
The IFC-IOR expansion is intended to turn “information asymmetry into information equity,” with more nations plugged into real-time data, alerts and coordinated responses. The CNS said the centre’s growing role validates India’s shift from SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) to MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions), the umbrella under which IPRD-2025 is being held.
In his address, Admiral Tripathi outlined three currents driving maritime “dynaxity.”
First being commercial disruption. Global seaborne trade growth could slow to 0.5% in 2025 from 2.2% in 2024. The Red Sea crisis shows how one chokepoint can spike freight rates, insurance and food prices.
Second was the transnational turbulence which included IUU fishing, piracy, arms and narcotics trafficking and human smuggling are rising. The FAO estimates IUU losses at 11–26 million tonnes of fish each year, worth USD 10–23 billion. Climate stress and pollution further threaten Small Island Developing States.
The third one that he mentioned was technological acceleration and vulnerability, which included AI, autonomy and commercial satellites are reshaping maritime awareness but they also widen exposure to cyber intrusions, spoofing and persistent surveillance.
Under capacity building, the Navy highlighted regional pooling of strengths. Recent examples included successful mating of India’s Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) with foreign submarines during Exercise Pacific Reach, and the development of NISHAR-MITRA terminals to enable intelligence and information sharing with partners. The CNS said India’s defence-industrial transformation under MAHASAGAR aims to extend co-design, co-production and sustainment models to friends and partners, stressing that “true capacity is what a region aggregates”.
On capability enhancement, the Navy chief urged a shift from platform-centric to purpose-centric operations such as doctrine, training, interoperability and resilience. He cited the month-long IOS Sagar deployment to the Southwest IOR, crewed by 44 personnel from nine IOR countries, as a “pioneering endeavour” in operating as one “in moments that matter.”
Calling IPRD a forum to turn ideas into action, the CNS said the trinity of holistic security, capacity building and capability enhancement would guide India’s maritime outreach and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Quoting Voltaire—“no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking”—he expressed confidence that the two-day dialogue would “create new convergences” and chart practical pathways to a “secure and sustainable maritime future.”
The Indian Navy, in partnership with the National Maritime Foundation (NMF), is hosting the 2025 edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, from 28 - 30 October 2025.
Now in its seventh edition, the IPRD has become the Indian Navy’s top international conference, which helps become a principal expression of India’s strategic outreach to promote peace, security, and sustainable growth in the maritime expanse of the Indo-Pacific. The IPRD 2025 focuses on previous accomplishments by focusing on concrete, actionable measures for regional growth, holistic maritime security and multilateral cooperation.
