India must enhance cooperation with like-minded partners on key issues that count for the region’s pursuit to progress and prosperity.
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Launched in 2019 at the ASEAN-led East Asia Summit in Bangkok, the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) appeared to hold promise as India’s guiding framework to strengthen its role and enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Importantly, the announcement of the IPOI marked a continuing momentum in India’s steady engagement with the Indo-Pacific.
Previously in 2018, Prime Minister Modi articulated India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific as a ‘free, open, and inclusive region’, in the pursuit of progress and prosperity. Following this, the external affairs ministry (MEA) created a separate division for the Indo-Pacific, in April 2019, integrating diplomatic focus towards the region into one wing. Later in November 2019, the launch of the IPOI seemed to be a strategic progression in cementing New Delhi’s policy outlook towards the region.
The IPOI, envisaged as a critical vista for enhancing cooperation and collaboration among like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific, was framed on seven key pillars: maritime ecology; maritime security; maritime resources; capacity building and resource sharing; disaster risk reduction and management; science, technology, and academic cooperation; trade, connectivity, and maritime transport. Through this initiative, India sought to enhance cooperation with its partners on these key pillars in tandem with their shared interests.
Notably, this framework was shaped as a voluntary arrangement. However, while conceived as a guiding framework for India’s Indo-Pacific strategy, five years later, IPOI appears to have remained marginal in shaping India’s labyrinth partnerships across the region. This merits a reassessment of why the IPOI has been only marginally effective in shaping India’s Indo-Pacific strategy. For a large part, India’s Indo-Pacific strategy has been driven by bilateral and minilateral frameworks of cooperation. New Delhi has been successful in expanding the contours of its bilateral partnerships with like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific context.
The rapidly shifting strategic architecture in the Indo-Pacific appears to be making way for new geopolitical alignments.
This is notably playing out in New Delhi’s continued articulation of Indo-Pacific rim countries as ‘maritime neighbours’, e.g., Indonesia and Tanzania. This exhibits a growing intent in India to emphasize the Indo-Pacific as a shared maritime space tied to regional progress and prosperity. Additionally, the Quad (India, Australia, Japan, US) has been a vital forum for India to engage in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad has exhibited considerable synergy since leader-level summits began in 2020. Since then, the group has expanded its agenda with critical focus on delivering health security, cooperation in technology, information sharing as well as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
The rapidly shifting strategic architecture in the Indo-Pacific appears to be making way for new geopolitical alignments. The recently concluded US elections has brought President Donald trump back to the White House. This has spurred speculations over the future of strategic equations in the Indo-Pacific.
The US remains a formidable force in the Indo-Pacific. However, with Trump’s emphasis on prioritizing American interests first have often rendered its strategic alliances and partnerships vulnerable to looming uncertainties. India, for its part, has remained engaged with the US in the Quad, and continues to enjoy favorable bilateral ties with Washington. However, India has its own ambitions as well. New Delhi seeks to play an important role in the emerging geopolitical architecture in the Indo-Pacific given its own strategic interests and compulsions.
In the Indian Ocean, India is a formidable force as a first responder during times of security challenges. New Delhi has also managed to sustain critical political clout with Indian Ocean rim states. However, given the complexities arising from the potential of a void, the IPOI may serve as a critical instrument for New Delhi to engage with like-minded partners in the broader Indo-Pacific. For this, a reset of the IPOI is essential. Importantly, the pillars of the IPOI are of key interest to states in the Indo-Pacific.
An expansive spectrum of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific grants leverage to India to further enhance cooperation through a calibrated framework such as the IPOI.
In order to deliver on development for prosperity of states, New Delhi must continue placing thrust on vital issue areas such as imminent maritime ecological crises, HADR, science and technology cooperation, maritime trade, and connectivity. An expansive spectrum of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific grants leverage to India to further enhance cooperation through a calibrated framework such as the IPOI.
India must enhance cooperation with like-minded partners on key issues that count for the region’s pursuit to progress and prosperity. New Delhi’s role in delivering on health security, and as a first responder at times of natural calamities is likely to add credibility to its ability to initiate and sustain a framework such as the IPOI. For this, the IPOI must be meaningfully
brought back to the mainstream of India’s Indo-Pacific outlook, as it was originally envisaged. Given the prevailing complexities in the Indo-Pacific, the time is right for a reset of the IPOI.
This commentary originally appeared in Hindustan Times.
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Sayantan Haldar is a Research Assistant at ORF’s Strategic Studies Programme. At ORF, Sayantan’s research focuses on Maritime Studies. He is interested in questions of ...
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