Read on Twitter
[Thread] In my new @CarnegieEndow working paper, I look at maritime security as a new domain in India's foreign policy engagements. Tracing the debate in India from 2013, I argue Indo-Pacific is a theater of opportunity (1/13) https://carnegieindia.org/2020/06/30/india-in-indo-pacific-new-delhi-s-theater-of-opportunity-pub-82205
While India struggled to define the concept within its political framework in the early stages of the debate, it eventually emerged as an opportunity to increase its diplomatic and security profile (2/13)
I look at India's geopolitical challenges in finding the right balance between its new strategic partnerships & the need to manage a rising China in South Asia & IOR. India’s concern was that it must not be perceived as a member of a containment strategy led by the West. (3/13)
Partnerships however emerged as the central pillar of India's Indo-Pacific approach offering a new set of options to New Delhi’s geopolitical and strategic challenges (4/13)
While US, Aus, Japan, France became key partners, India's relationship with island nations and smaller neighbors equally important. Through the Indo-Pacific, Delhi is now expanding its strategic engagements across IOR, Pacific, Caribbean, Africa, EU and ASEAN (5/13)
However, does India’s military capabilities and efforts support Delhi's expanding diplomatic footprint? Despite its growing Indo-Pacific profile, Indian Ocean reflect New Delhi’s key priorities and challenges in a new strategic environment. (6/13)
The paper looks at Indian Navy's priorities in the Indian Ocean and underlines maritime opportunities and collaborations to strengthen and support Delhi's Indo-Pacific vision (7/13)
In particular, I look at Indian Navy's Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) efforts as well as its presence near all chokepoints across the IOR. If MDA creates a picture that identifies threats and challenges, presence allows the navy
to respond and shape new developments. (8/13)
to respond and shape new developments. (8/13)
Initiatives such as the IFC-IOR, mission based deployments, white shipping agreements, logistics exchange agreements all work toward strengthening MDA and presence across the IOR (9/13)
However, with 15% (approx.) of the defence budget, there are serious capacity constraints and challenges. Some of the challenges can be addressed by leveraging partnerships. The strategic use island territories is one such step. (10/13)
The Indo-Pacific provides opportunities for India to maximize its strategic interests. Delhi has to however, be open to new models while acknowledging the difference in priorities, theaters & regional dynamics for each of India’s Indo-Pacific partners (11/13)
A successful Indo-Pacific collaboration
does not lie in a convergence of policies but through coordinated and issue-based partnerships
framed by a model of burden sharing. (12/13)
does not lie in a convergence of policies but through coordinated and issue-based partnerships
framed by a model of burden sharing. (12/13)
The pdf version of this paper can be found here (13/13)
https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Baruah_UnderstandingIndia_final.pdf
https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Baruah_UnderstandingIndia_final.pdf
