India as Maritime Security Partner in the Indo-Pacific, Chapter in IDSA book "Asian Strategic Review-2015" (original) (raw)
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This thesis assesses India’s maritime strategy and critically examines its efficacy and sustainability including India’s ambitions to be the “net security provider” for the region.” It seeks to answer the question, whether or not the extant maritime strategy would help India maintain its balance of power with respect to China, and recommends complementary actions and alternate strategic options for India to fulfill its goals in the Indian Ocean. The first part of the thesis examines the entire range of strategic maritime threats and challenges posed to India by the evolving Indian Ocean security environment of the twenty-first century. These include the non-traditional threats such as piracy, maritime terrorism and illegal fishing as well as traditional threats posed by India’s hostile neighbours, China and Pakistan. Subsequently, it looks at how India’s foreign policy has shaped its maritime doctrine and strategy, and examines the stated objectives of India’s maritime strategy that...
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This volume will be a rich resource for anyone interested in the maritime security in the Indo Pacific and the future of the maritime domain. It collects together selected papers from the Conference on Indo Pacific Maritime Security: Challenges and Cooperation, hosted by the National Security College, Australian National University, in March 2016. The conference brought together many eminent experts and policy practitioners from key Indo-Pacific countries to discuss the complex interplay of strategic competition and cooperation across the Indo Pacific. This is reflected in the great diversity of perspectives in included this volume: from Japanese views on naval strategy; to fresh perspectives about the management of security tensions in the East and South China Seas; debates about Japan future security role in the Indian Ocean; the future of new maritime security partnerships including India, and indeed, the future of the maritime domain. Anyone concerned about maritime security in our region will find new and policy-relevant insights.
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While piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean are current issues, so-called Great Power rivalry is not yet an immediate security threat in the region. However, the potential effects of Great Power rivalry are more fundamental and reach further than acts of terrorism or piracy. In terms of this rivalry, two major issues stand out. The first is increasing maritime rivalry between India and China. The second major instance of potential Great Power rivalry in the Indian Ocean relates to the risk of spillover effects from maritime tensions in the western Pacific Ocean, including the East and South China Seas.