11 October 2020, NIICE Commentary 6130
Dipankar Dey
With the turn of the new decade, global politics has also witnessed dramatic shifts so much so that scholars shred huge energy on deciphering the nature of the changing World order in almost every region of the world. Now, the focus is on the maritime security and trade-oriented issues as these have the focus of maximum stake holders. Similar change is seen in the Indo-Pacific region which is strategically important not only for the South East Asian countries but it is also the Global center of gravity in terms of the great power rivalry playing out in this region.
Emergence of Security and Trade Relations
The christening of the term Indo-Pacific by the Foreign Policy makers in the United States of America naturally gives importance to India in this region. There are three reasons behind the formation of new order in Indo-Pacific region, i) Rise of China as a global power ii) India’s growth in economic and strategic sectors, and iii) the importance of Indian Ocean as a maritime route of trade. The term Indo-Pacific is interpreted differently by the different stakeholders. India look at this region as an inclusive, open, integrated and balanced area. India always try to interconnect common challenges and opportunities that nations in this region face. The US consider is to be a free and open area, highlighting the importance of rule or norms of conduct in this region. Analyst see this as an attempt to counter what is seen as Chinese hegemony in this region. Apart from this, ASEAN countries look at Indo-Pacific as a consociational model.
The four biggest economies in this region are the US, China, India, and Japan, trade relations are important for this region however, countries such as Australia, Indonesia are also important players. More than 40 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the strait of Malacca, 15.5 million barrels of oil trade passes through the Gulf of Hormuz and 11 million barrels of oil trades conducted through the Malacca and Singapore Straits.
The rule-based trading regime and security, thus, emerges important in this region. China is a driving force behind the new architecture in Indo-Pacific region, where China acts both as an influencer and as well as an architect. China has been expanding its navel expansion on South China Sea as well as Indian Ocean and its increasing military posturing in the region is seen as a security challenge by others. The primary security challenge is faced in the Sea Lane of Communications (SLOCS) apart from terrorism and dominance over others in this region.
To meet this security challenges, the regional power in the Indo-Pacific region has made a trilateral partnership between India, Japan, and the US. They had made trilateral relations for jointly participating in Malabar Naval Exercise. With the increasing importance of the region, the state actors of this region are making policy to fulfill their national interest through Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Trans-Atlantic Trade And Investment Partnership (TTIP), China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on part of China while India is pushing for India’s Act East from Look East policy, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and others.
In Indo-Pacific region, India has been playing a major role. The other regional power wants India’s influence over the South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean. So, India does not go for any confrontation, rather pursue her strategic policy which may ensure her acceptance to everyone in the region such as its support for the rule-based order, open and balance, stable trade environment in the Indo Pacific region, which tie up the nations with trade and investment. India always wants unified ASEAN for growth and prosperity of this region and it does not agree with the US proposal of rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific region that seeks to counter Chinese dominance. Many scholars describe it as a ‘Hedging’ while others insisted that most states are ‘Balancing’. But some expert argue that it may be called ‘Evasive Balancing’ because India try to engage in balancing, while trying to reassure her.
Conclusion
Chinese ancient rule of expansionism in international relations is also relevant in today’s policy, which is called ‘Pax Sinica’ in this region that manifests ‘Debt-Trap Diplomacy’ to critics. However, the challenges for India is how it will promote herself and will maintain the Peace in the Indo-Pacific region. Besides this, every nation in the regions must obey the International Law which ensured the equal access of space and sea, while India should take the measure of implementing the sovereignty of all states. Similarly, Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is necessary for Indo-Pacific regional security. India had taken an initiative called ‘SAGAR-Security and Growth for All in the Region’ for implementing her strategy at the Indian Ocean.
