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India’s recent outreach to Sri Lanka and Mauritius suggest a renewed focus on the Indian Ocean region.
Blue Economy is fast becoming an area of huge interest for African policymakers. Has the rhetoric translated to concrete developmental outcomes? This brief examines the question of how the concept of ‘Blue economy’ should be operationalised nationally and regionally in Africa. It highlights strategic entry points that should be driven by both public and private sectors and supported by South-South cooperation: the development of ports, promot
Countries such as India and Australia are redefining their Indo-Pacific policies amidst the growing belligerence of China in the region. The two have a common interest in stability, while standing firmly against any militarisation. Their willingness to partner closely with like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific lays the foundation for stronger defence and security cooperation between the two middle-power democracies and Indian Ocean li
As competition intensifies in the Indian Ocean Region, India loses touch with Sri Lanka and solidifies relations with the Maldives.
This Paper analyses South Africa's position as a member of both BRICS and IBSA, especially the broader strategic implications arising out of its membership of the two organisations.
South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy, released in December 2022, highlights the country’s willingness to engage with the Indo-Pacific concept, shedding the ambiguity of the earlier stance under President Yoon Suk Yeol’s predecessor. This policy step up recognises emerging geopolitical trends that require South Korea to engage with new territories previously overlooked in its strategic radar, such as the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This brief
At the Galle Dialogue 2016, Sri Lanka sought not only to stress its critical geographical location at the crossroads of important Indian Ocean sea lines of communication, but also to display a catalytic ability to spur regional collaboration in securing the vulnerable commons.
Given India's high stakes in the Indian Ocean, it is important for it to ponder the possibility of using both soft and hard power resources to create dependencies for the other countries, and the same time, seek possibilities to engage with China.
Located at the centre of the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Archipelago is a group of 55 tiny islands that, since 1965, has been administered by the United Kingdom as a British Indian Ocean Territory. Its biggest island, Diego Garcia, is host to a highly important US military air base. Sovereignty over the archipelago has recently emerged as an issue of contestation between Mauritius and the UK, and the presence of American military troops has only ser
The Indo-Pacific region is increasingly being viewed as a global centre of gravity, both for its economic and demographic potential, and the security challenges that could frustrate those possibilities. India—as a champion of the principle of ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ or FOIP—has initiated engagements with its partners in the region, such as the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) that aims to ensure the security and stability of the
New Delhi’s record on this score is more mixed than some of the headlines seem to suggest.
India must enhance cooperation with like-minded partners on key issues that count for the region’s pursuit to progress and prosperity.
The Indian Ocean, a vast maritime expanse, features diverse social, spatial, and topographical characteristics. This diversity is evident in the various actors operating independently, with minimal synergy, political unity, and distinct challenges, across its sub-regions. In this context, what does the maritime security architecture in the region look like? This brief finds that it remains fragmented, and makes a case for nurturing its cohesivene
The upcoming “global deployment” is intended to reinforce the U.K.’s tilt toward the Indo-Pacific region.
By ratcheting up tension, China is causing alarm in other countries that use the busy South China Sea as the shortest and most convenient link between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Chinese could well end up the losers as the countries affected could band together to offset Chinese aggressiveness. Worse, it could well trigger off Japanese nationalism and rearmament.
The trilateral maritime cooperation initiative by India, Maldives and Sri Lanka, and the Outcome Document signed recently by the NSAs of the three countries, has the potential for further improving naval ties in the shared Indian Ocean Neighbourhood.
India and the European Union (EU) share a deep political and strategic relationship that pivots around democracy, global rule of law, security, and trade. While the depth is obvious on paper, however, the partnership has delivered short on dividends expected by both sides. Yet diplomatic engagement remains robust, and in recent times is moving towards greater mutual understanding of the challenges of terrorism and the potential counterterrorism s
Manoj Joshi, “A Survey of India-US Defence Cooperation,” ORF Special Report No. 224, March 2024, Observer Research Foundation.
With tensions between an aggressive China and an emerging India intensifying, there will be significant changes and challenges in the Indian Ocean and South Asian regions
The geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of small island developing states (SIDS) expose them to unique challenges. Climate change, in particular, poses a severe threat to SIDS, with rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and changing precipitation patterns negatively affecting their ecosystems, economies, and communities. This brief assesses the challenges faced by SIDS in accessing traditional climate financing and analyses the effec
During the UPA years, Delhi often proclaimed itself as a "net security provider" in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Modi has certainly put security cooperation at the very heart of his regional diplomacy. But the institutional framework in Delhi for such cooperation remains to be developed.
Any future limited conflict between India and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will primarily be fought in a high-altitude environment along parts of the 4,000-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). With the Indian Army likely to be constrained by the terrain and numerical parity to fight a largely positional battle with limited mobility and offensive options, air power offers several asymmetric opportunities to create operational advantages
Real impetus for India's expansion of its second-strike capability is, in fact, the significant growth of the Pakistani and Chinese navies in the Indian Ocean.
Despite their growing usage in armed conflict, artificially intelligent unmanned combat systems raise questions of law, ethics and accountability
The Maldives and Sri Lanka show how they can bargain with bigger powers to their advantage.
New Delhi and Canberra have had to bear the brunt of increasingly belligerent Chinese behavior in the Indo-Pacific, pushing their bilateral relationship to new heights.
Relations between Australia and India are poised at an historic moment. These two Indian Ocean democracies have struggled for decades to find political traction, but in recent years the ground has shifted in positive ways.
Former Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mr. M Ganapathi, has emphasised the importance of the Indian Ocean in global developments in the 21st Century and the importance now given to the region by the government.
The Bay of Bengal is highly prone to extreme weather events, many of which result in massive disaster. The sub-regional grouping, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation), took a long time to begin nurturing their collective capabilities in disaster mitigation. It was only after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which caused overwhelming devastation in the region, that BIMSTEC identified the area of ‘Envir
It is not difficult to imagine that the Chinese will be uncomfortable with the current scenario. China is against any "outside power" being involved in the South China Sea, though its own forces are regularly operating in the Indian Ocean region.
Once a niche term, Blue Economy (BE) has matured into a popular concept in marine governance discussions in the Indo-Pacific region. As land resources reach their limits, governments in the region are keen to harness the ocean’s wealth for economic projects. Policymakers widely believe the blue paradigm allows marine activities to be earth-friendly and sustainable, and thereby guaranteeing a more equitable future. Recent developments, however,
Blue economy’ is the integration of ocean economy development with values of social inclusion and environmental sustainability, along with dynamic and innovative business models. For India, however, blue economy extends beyond being merely an economic and environmental proposition. It presents India with an unprecedented opportunity to meet its national objectives, strengthen connectivity with neighbours, and exert influence in the surrounding
Indian decision makers recognise the need for cooperative tools to fight transnational crime in the littorals. Indian initiatives, however, are yet to bring about an alignment of objectives and strategies of regional littoral states.
As the gap between its power and that of China grows, India needs the US to balance China in the South Asia-Indian Ocean Region. The Indian contribution, military or economic, towards a strong American Indo-Pacific strategy appears more nebulous. This is an asymmetry which cannot but have real-life consequences. India should not assume that antipathy to China alone will be the over-riding factor in the US global policy.
A military base in Djibouti is a useful asset for China, as it denotes both geopolitical heft and economic stakeholdership in the Indian Ocean.
Mohamed Muizzu is helping Beijing expand its presence in the Indian Ocean
New Delhi’s Indian Ocean woes aren’t confined to Sri Lanka. Across the Indian Ocean’s littorals, the Chinese navy has been preparing to establish a stronger security presence. On Pakistan’s Makran coast, the PLAN has deployed regularly, including at Gwadar, also constructed by CMPorts. Earlier this year, the PLA is said to have initiated talks with the Pakistan military for another outpost at Jiwani.
India paid a high price for failing to anticipate the Sino-Pak nuclear nexus in the 1970s and 1980s. It is erring again by neglecting the potential for a maritime alliance between China and Pakistan that could severely constrain India's freedom of action in the Indian Ocean.
