Manuscript Number : GISRRJ258215

India has been a dominant player in the Indian Ocean Region since the age of the Ramayana, when Lord Rama built Ram Setu to reach Sri Lanka. Subsequently, the upcoming kingdoms, viz., the Cholas, used the Indian Ocean for establishing trade and expanding their area of influence beyond the land borders by showcasing prowess in the sea. Later in the 17th century, the most prominent was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who laid the foundation stone for the development of a strong Naval force to protect his sovereign authority against the Siddis. He soon realized that, apart from having suprema-cy on land, it was mandatory to project power in the maritime domain to secure the interests. Europe-ans (especially France and Britain) were able to develop colonies in the entire Indian Ocean Region due to their mighty Naval forces, which were complemented by a comprehensive maritime strategy. A.T. Mahan, in his two-volume work “The Influence of Sea Power upon History,” which was published in 1890 and 1892, discussed how maritime power is essential in becoming a world power by establishing control over the seas. Later, after the two world wars, the USA emerges with a mighty Naval force hav-ing the capability to dominate in the economic, political, and military domains of the world and secure its national interests. In the present global scenario, every nation is trying to protect, preserve, and promote its national interest by adopting all possible measures. The traditional state-centric approach to national security has evolved into comprehensive security, encompassing all security aspects. Consid-ering the non-state actors and diversification of threats around us, maritime power becomes an indis-pensable instrument for the national security framework. For a country like India, which is the epicen-tre of the Indian Ocean, it becomes a matter of grave importance to have a commanding maritime power that will integrate all the elements of national security. This integration will foster the formula-tion of a comprehensive national security strategy for India. The pairing of maritime power with na-tional security will be advantageous for the upcoming Integrated Theatre Commands. This paper will analyze the linkage between maritime power and national security, keeping in mind India’s geostrate-gic location in the Indian Ocean Region. Further, it will delve into the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region and emphasize the leverages of bracing national security and maritime power in the formulation of a comprehensive national security strategy. The paper will conclude by enunciating the importance of maritime power and national security in the establishment of Integrated Theatre Commands, which is the core aspect of ongoing defence modernization in the country.