The Cham Blueprint: Memory Shapes Maritime Ties

The growing ties between India and Vietnam have always been traditionally viewed in the context of hard power realpolitik in the Indo-Pacific geopolitical landscape. Activities such as joint naval exercises, defense lines of credit, and strategic alignments in the South China Sea are cited as classic examples of pursuing a balance of power. Yet framing this partnership solely as a reactive response to security pressures overlooks its deepest foundation, which is a shared civilisational memory.  

Illustration by The Geostrata

Centuries before the term ‘strategic autonomy' or ‘Indo-Pacific' became part of the diplomatic vocabulary, the Eastern Indian Ocean and the South China Sea were a single maritime highway, fluid and seamless. The Cham Kingdom was at the heart of this historical road that linked Central Vietnam with the Indian Ocean, and its cultural, economic, and spiritual connections set a precedent for bilateral confidence-building.

In today's context, this "Cham Blueprint" is becoming a key instrument of soft power, helping to build strategic trust between the Indian and Vietnam in the form of civilisational memory.

CHAM BLUEPRINT 

The Cham civilization was thriving along the central coastal region of present-day Vietnam from the 4th century to the 14th century. The Cham people were not only recipients of Indian culture but active agents who adapted and localised Indian art, architecture, statecraft, and religion. They founded successful ports that linked Indian Ocean trade routes to those of East Asia, establishing a maritime link that linked the Indian subcontinent directly to the Western Pacific.

This historical reality provides a powerful counter-narrative to modern claims that India is an "external actor" or an interloper in the South China Sea. The Cham connection justifies India's re-entrance to the waters of Southeast Asia as a natural re-entry into the longstanding maritime fabric. The Cham Blueprint, thus, shows that in the prehistory of international law, the key pillars of regional order were open seas, free trade, and cross-cultural exchanges.

RESTORATION DIPLOMACY 

The shared civilisational memory is more vivid than ever in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary in Quang Nam province, Vietnam. The red-brick temple complex was constructed by the Cham kings from the 4th to the 13th century and was used to worship the Hindu god Shiva, and bears a striking aesthetic resemblance to the ancient temples of Southern India. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been conducting intensive conservation and restoration work at Mỹ Sơn in collaboration with Vietnamese experts for the last 10 years to safeguard these holy temples.

This is more than a regular act of historical preservation. India's pledge, backed by the Indian government, comes in the form of a very visible and tangible commitment to mutual respect through what is known as ‘restoration diplomacy' in India.  The construction of a stabilised ancient brickwork brings Vietnamese artisans and Indian engineers together and creates huge institutional goodwill. It indicates that India's investment in Vietnam is not extractive, simple, and short-term, but is based on the principle of cultural sovereignty and heritage.

FROM PALM LEAVES TO POLICY 

The intellectual heritage of the relationship between Vietnam and India is also important. The survey, cataloguing, and digitisation of ancient Cham manuscripts have been a priority in recent bilateral initiatives, such as with India's Gyan Bharatam programme. Several of these works are in Cham script, a variety of South Indian Brahmi, with the content of these works reflecting Cham philosophy, medicine, and maritime law.

India and Vietnam are safeguarding an intangible heritage through the use of modern technology to conserve these fragile documents, which demonstrate their historic intellectual cross-fertilisation. This project is constructed as "cognitive security", a sense of history shared by the institution that makes trust feel natural and warm. When the diplomats and military leaders convene in Hanoi or New Delhi, they know that their countries have communicated, traded, and lived side by side peacefully for more than a thousand years.

CIVILISATIONAL MEMORY AS AN ANCHOR FOR INDO-PACIFIC SECURITY 

Soft power and civilisational memory cannot be separated from hard power; they are its prerequisites. The regional crisis requires a strong political bond of trust to sustain defense agreements and naval port visits. That is where the Cham Blueprint can enrich the Indo-Vietnam partnership. The concept of a shared, open maritime domain is key to modern security frameworks, like India's MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) vision and Vietnam's support of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).

New Delhi and Hanoi are restoring their old connections and showing that current security cooperation is less a response to the current geopolitical tensions. Rather, it is a true revival of a historic maritime balance, one that is based on the principles of the rule of law, respect, and shared prosperity between the peoples of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Ultimately, the Cham legacy shows that soft power and hard power complement each other. India and Vietnam provide a great example of regional stability, with their maritime cooperation having taken place for a very long time and having been founded on peaceful exchanges, thus proving that the best strategic alliance is created with historical roots. When an Indian Navy vessel docks near the shores of Da Nang today, it does not arrive as a transient strategic force reacting solely to present-day tensions. Rather, it is a seascape that is influenced by centuries of common trade, religious exchange, and mutual respect. 

New Delhi's investments in Vietnam's heritage are nothing peripheral in the diplomatic game, but it's the cement of enduring strategic trust that binds. In a rapidly changing Indo-Pacific, this civilisational memory gives both countries an unparalleled force for good. India and Vietnam are examples of strategic partnership, and they are born of a shared sense of history, not out of a cabinet room.

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BY ASMITA SAHA

TEAM GEOSTRATA

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