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The maritime space plays a pivotal role in establishing new and emerging powers that influence regional dynamics and the global security environment. The Indo-Pacific has emerged as a new geographic space in this century. It is the new strategic reality of this time. The region spans from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, encompassing 21 states and 30,000 islands. India plays a leading role in the Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific presents a whole new set of opportunities and is a platform to raise India’s profile.
The Indo-Pacific has become a strategic reality of the 21st century, positioning India as a key regional actor.
The rise of the Indo-Pacific as a new theater places significant importance on India. It has emerged as an opportunity to support India’s diplomatic and strategic goals. Moreover, India’s role in the Indo-Pacific is considered crucial by several states, including the United States (US), Japan, France, and Australia. India’s goal is to advance its strategic interests in the region while responding to a challenging security environment. India has adopted many initiatives to maintain its influence in the region. But there are several challenges that disrupt India’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
Initially, India struggled to define the term and role of the Indo-Pacific in its foreign policy due to a mix of historical, strategic, and regional factors. The reasons India adopted the concept of Indo-Pacific in its foreign policy include the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China, introduced in 2013 for infrastructure development in Asia. Sri Lanka leased the Hambantota Port to China after it failed to repay its debts. Also, Bangladesh became the buyer of Chinese military equipment. The Galwan Valley conflict in 2020 between India and China also impelled India to adopt the concept. Japan was the first state with which India discussed the concept. It was formally acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018
India considers partnerships as a key to promote its influence in the region, as partnerships offer a whole new set of opportunities to address its geopolitical and strategic challenges. India announced the Act East Policy in 2014, an extension of the Look East Policy of 1992, which increased its collaboration with ASEAN states. India’s Act East Policy has strengthened its ties with ASEAN. It promotes economic cooperation, strategic partnerships, and cultural connectivity with Southeast Asian nations. The Sagar vision, launched in 2015, focuses on maritime security, regional collaborations, and sustainable development.
India’s Indo-Pacific strategy includes initiatives like Act East Policy, Sagar, and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
This policy calls for protecting India’s interests and strengthening ties with neighboring states while encouraging regional peace and security. In 2019, India’s Pacific Ocean Initiative was launched, which addresses maritime security, environmental sustainability, and economic cooperation. This approach consists of seven pillars, namely maritime security, maritime ecology, maritime resources, capacity building and resource sharing, science, technology and academic cooperation, disaster risk reduction and management and trade, connectivity, and maritime transport.
Furthermore, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, launched after the QUAD Summit in Tokyo in 2022, offer partners advanced real-time radio frequency data to increase maritime monitoring and addressing illegal fishing, managing climate and disaster responses, and enforcing maritime laws. The Project Mausam was also announced to strengthen historical and cultural ties in the IOR. The Sagarmarla Initiative of 2015 aims to boost port connectivity by building new ports and improving the existing ones. It also establishes coastal economic zones to enhance trade and economic growth. India’s participation in ASEAN and QUAD also enhances its role as a facilitator. The India-Japan Act East Forum of 2017, in which Japan contributed 232.209 billion yen, is also another initiative.
The Bharatmala Initiative improves road infrastructure, including highways and economic corridors, to boost connectivity and trade effectiveness across India. In January 2015, the US and India issued a joint vision for the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), which highlighted the importance of the Indian Ocean and considered it a separate theater from Asia-Pacific. It also underlined the priority areas for both states: Asia-Pacific for the US and the Indian Ocean for India. Furthermore, New Delhi and Tokyo also declared a vision statement in December 2015, considering the Indo-Pacific as a region that included the Indian Ocean. In 2016, a new division within the Ministry of External Affairs was launched with the name of Indian Ocean Region Division, aiming to bring the island nations of the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and Seychelles for better coordination and policy making in the Indian Ocean.
However, India faces several challenges in achieving its objectives in the Indo-Pacific. India lacks the economic and military resources necessary for it to carry out its ambitions. First, the rising economic and military power of China hinders India’s goals in the Indo-Pacific. China offers extensive economic programs and military assistance in South Asia. The Chinese economic expansion and military modernization create a strategic imbalance, posing a direct threat to India’s regional influence and its aim of being the net security provider. Second, India’s low economic progress halts its aims in the Indo-Pacific. The lack of significant growth hampers aspirations. Third, historical factors and internal security concerns hinder its purposes in the Indo-Pacific. India has focused on land-based threats while ignoring the maritime domain, and has made less investment in the navy.
Despite its ambitions, India faces major hurdles, including China’s assertiveness, economic limitations, and naval underinvestment.
In conclusion, India is one of the major players in the Indo-Pacific. It has adopted several initiatives to maintain its influence in the Indo-Pacific, including the Act East Policy, Sagar, Bharatmala, and India Pacific Ocean Initiative, to name a few. But India needs to strengthen its strategic partnerships with other states such as the US, Japan, and Australia, as they present opportunities for coordinated efforts to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The author is a student of Bachelor's in International Relations at the University of Sargodha with a profound interest in South Asian affairs and Strategic Studies
