ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the emerging multilateral security architecture in the Indo-Pacific, and evaluates India's contributions to the regional institutions concerned with maritime security. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of these contributions. The chapter then considers that the situation in what is described as the Indo-Pacific spanning both the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and East Asia, it pays particular attention to the likelihood of a stable cooperative maritime security regime in the IOR and considers the implications for India's maritime strategy. It considers the institutions that do or should address maritime security, including piracy, maritime terrorism and the risks of interstate conflict. The Indo-Pacific system is less attractive, however, to China which can view the system as part of efforts to encircle it strategically. It also has little appeal to African countries in the IOR that are more concerned about local issues of governance, poverty, disease and internal security rather than the broader strategic issues implicit in an Indo-Pacific view.
