India’s engagement with Indo-Mediterranean and IMEC route has cultural and symbolic dimension: Report

Rome, Feb 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya's arrival in Muscat after an 18-day voyage from Gujarat to Oman not only revives India’s ancient maritime heritage, but has a cultural and symbolic dimension for its engagement with the Indo-Mediterranean and with routes like India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), as per a report.

"As Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Muscat for an official visit, the Omani capital was also welcoming the INSV Kaundinya, following a historic 18-day voyage from Gujarat to Oman. Two parallel arrivals — one political, the other maritime — converged in the same place and moment, projecting onto the Indian Ocean a narrative that bridges memory and strategy, past and future," a report in Rome-based Indo-Mediterranean Initiative CNKY stated.

"India’s engagement with the Indo-Mediterranean and with routes such as the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is not confined to modern infrastructure or contemporary sea lanes. There is also a cultural and symbolic dimension that reaches deep into antiquity, adding historical depth to present-day strategic choices. The INSV Kaundinya sits squarely in this space: not merely a naval unit, but a living reconstruction of India’s maritime heritage," it added.

Inspired by depictions of ancient Indian ships and constructed entirely using traditional stitched-plank techniques, the ship was designed as a bridge between modern India and its pre-industrial oceanic past. The initiative was championed by economist and historian and a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Sanjeev Sanyal, with a goal to restore visibility to India’s ancient seafaring tradition in the present time. Unlike modern ships, INSV Kaundinya was made using nails or metal fastenings. Following its launch in February 2025, the ship was inducted into the Indian Navy at Karwar naval base in Karnataka.

The Kaundinya's first international voyage began in December last year from Gujarat's Porbandar to Oman's Muscat. The route retraced ancient commercial paths connecting the Indian subcontinent to the Arabian Peninsula. Throughout the crossing of the Arabian Sea, Sanyal shared regular updates about the journey, like the shifting winds and the daily challenges of a voyage. In one of his updates, he mentioned the distant sighting of a modern aircraft carrier — a stark visual reminder of how layers of maritime power coexist on the same horizon. Local and diplomatic authorities welcomed INSV Kaundinya in Muscat. Notably, Oman has remained a central node in Indian Ocean networks for a long time and continues to be a contemporary crossroads for diplomacy, commerce, and maritime security.

The CNKY report said: "If the Kaundinya embodies India’s millennia-old maritime story, Meloni represents Italy’s forward-looking trajectory. As the country’s first woman prime minister, she has repositioned Rome as a more assertive actor in Europe and across the wider Mediterranean, with a growing focus on the Indo-Pacific. In Oman, India and Italy were symbolically brought together as complementary pillars of the Indo-Mediterranean — a space that is no longer merely geographic, but increasingly strategic."

"This convergence was not the result of careful choreography, but of meaningful serendipity. At a time of heightened global instability, the Kaundinya’s voyage serves as a reminder that the seas — once bridges of exchange and connection — continue to shape international relations. Between historical memory and strategic projection, the Indo-Mediterranean once again tells an ancient story that remains strikingly relevant today," it added.

Source: IANS