Indian Maritime Security Strategy for Indian Ocean Region: Implications for China and Pakistan

Abstract

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) creates a triangle of opposition, competition and confiict between India, China, and the US. India’s naval modernization and ever-expanding infiuence in IOR has challenged the naval balance with clear regional implications especially for China and Pakistan. This competition is rejected in the establishment of naval bases, investments in infrastructure, and the formation ofstrategic partnerships. India, as a rising regional power, is actively engaged in securing its maritime trade routes, ensuring energy security, and countering challenges such as balancing China's presence in the region. India's dependence on the resources and trade routes in the IOR shape its strategic calculus. India's naval expansion encircling China, coupled with its strengthening ties with the US, further complicates the geopolitical balance in the region. There is also a growing maritime competition between India and Pakistan, as both countries seek to assert their infiuence and secure their maritime interests. This competition adds an additional layer of complexity to the overall security and stability ofthe region. Through the theoretical lens ofMahan's Maritime perspective, this paper dissects the nature and dynamics of India’s IOR strategy and explains that India’s naval modernization and its expansion of presence/infiuence in the region along with its multilateral initiatives like SAGAR and especially bilateral strategic partnership with US have created a security-insecurity dilemma in the region with a possibility of enhanced multi-pronged competition with the regional and extra regional powers with clear implications for China and Pakistan.