ABSTRACT
India stands as the superpower and as the net security provider for the rest of the world when it comes to the Indian Ocean. Unlike the Arctic region, the Indian Ocean’s importance does not derive from an intrinsic value, that is, from the resources it contains; its value, for the United States and other external powers, is primarily as a highway. 1 It is observed that India is gradually emerging as an ambitious nation with all well-equipped trade implications and power securities. For much of independent India’s history, in fact, its foreign policy rested upon the language of non-alignment, which emphasized notions of non-interference, peaceful co-existence, Afro-Asian solidarity and the struggle against neo-colonialism. From India’s perspective of world politics, the rhetoric about the Indian Ocean focused on projecting it as a ‘zone of peace’. Such an approach has been adjusted to the exigencies of power. These include vital energy concerns. Estimates, based on current growth levels, project that India will soon have an 85 per cent dependence on foreign oil imports. Hence, it will have a crucial stake in projected pipeline projects and ongoing deep-sea oil drilling and gas wells within the Indian Ocean Region. 2 In 2009, it was seen that India’s energy security and geopolitics were converged in the Indian Ocean. Two-thirds of petroleum traffic traverses this body of water; it will become increasingly important to the numerous stakeholders. Other than the United States, the countries commanding
most of Kaplan’s attention were India and China. Given their size and growing dependence on the sea lines for energy supplies and trade, Kaplan saw an inevitable geopolitical ‘great game’ rivalry emerging in the Indian Ocean. 3
It is time to assess India’s security situations: where does India stand in the contemporary changing notions of balance of power in the Indian Ocean? Has Indian-Chinese rivalry emerged, or say, what is going to be the role of United Nations in the coming years? However, India still continues to capture the imagination of strategists trying to understand the power politics play in this region. Indian Ocean stands as the world’s most important energy and trade seaway. About 30 per cent of all trade is handled in Indian Ocean ports, illustrating the region’s importance in global maritime trade. In 2009, oil transiting the Indian Ocean is increasingly vital to China, India and Japan, as well as South Korea. In fact, China surpassed the United States in 2013 to become the world’s largest net oil importer. 4 India’s economic rise has fuelled the country’s defence budget and strengthened its position in the Indian Ocean. In May 2014, India again became the first Asian country after imperial Japan to have two fully operational aircraft carriers. India expects to add an indigenous nuclear submarine to its fleet next year. Elsewhere, the Indian navy provides critical training and equipment to numerous Indian Ocean countries, and its biennial MILAN exercise grew in February 2014 5 to include 16 Asian and African navies and coast guards. Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has reconfigured its near-abroad division by adding a wider Indian Ocean focus. 6 The Indian Ocean Region has immense investment and business potential. Unique and lucrative business opportunities are available in various sectors, from agricultural and food products to the construction sector, energy and mining, fisheries and many more.
