Atlantic Community:Global Must Read Article "India Strives for Influence in the Indian Ocean"

India Strives for Influence in the Indian Ocean

A. Vines & B. Oruitemeka | Chatham House | April 2008

The Indian Ocean will be a strategic bridgehead for the big players of the 21st century. This relates to the Indian sea doctrine, which has been determining India's policies in the region since its release in 2004. China's advance in particular is pushing the Indian government to strengthen its ties with the African countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean and to regain more influence in the region. A considerable share of India's trade and almost 89 percent of its oil imports are conducted by sea. The stability of these waters is therefore a high ranking economic priority and of prime importance for its security.

The Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) was founded as early as 1995. With 18 member states including India, Indonesia, South Africa and Australia, the IOR-ARC is a very promising platform for cooperation. Yet it is exclusively economic and has been lacking a political agenda. The Indian government has therefore promoted a trilateral development initiative in collaboration with Brazil and South Africa, the IBSA. This seemed to somewhat counter India's immediate priorities: the reform of the Security Council of the UN and the enlargement from the G8 to the G13 to include South Africa, Brasil, China, India and Mexico. But the harmony of the IBSA has been considerably unsettled. While South Africa supports China's appeal to be included in the dialogue forum on questions relating to economics, India's government strongly opposes it. As for Pakistan's aspiration to become a member of the Ocean Rim Association, this is also not met with approval.

The efforts of Pakistan and China to acquire more influence in the region are causing India to intensify relations to Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar and the coastal states of Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania on a bi-or trilateral level. In Madagascar in July 2007, India started running its first ever radar control system on foreign soil. In addition to this, India rented a piece of land for 2.5 million dollars in the north of Madagascar in order to follow the movement of ships with the newest digital interception techniques. As early as 2003, India and the Seychelles signed an agreement by which Indian warships took over the patrolling of the territorial waters of the Seychelles. This year, once again military exercises are planned on the water. Further, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC) announced a reinforced engagement in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique last year. Additionally, the Indian government remitted much of Mozambique's and Tanzania's remaining debt. However, like before, Indians maintain their closest economic ties in the region with Mauritius, a country where presumably as much as 68 percent of the population is of Indian origin.

This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community editorial team from "India's Engagement with the African Indian Ocean Rim States" published here in Chatham House, African Programme Paper on April 4, 2008.

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Fri, May 16th 2008, 13:10

ilyas m mohsin, ppp, Platinum Contributor (250)

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while this is one view, the other one is less flattering.
India is in the grip of serious suicides-cycle among the poor despite the
goodtime the middle-class is experiencing. As the poor, generally, belong to the lowest caste and treated as sub-human, the cash which should be pumped by the system in to saving lives is being spent on building war-apparatus. Since Govt is massively dominated ny the high-caste North/central provinces, those in the South/ East suffer grievously. Despite a democracy their laments are not heard properly. That-is-why there are many insurgencies against the powerful centre even when a coalition of parties rules the roost.
US is trying to build up India as a surrogate in this part of the world despite the brave resistance from the Left, particularly in the matter of Indo-US Nuclear Deal. However, ambition plus history is goading Indian
rich to put their eggs in the US basket for dominating the area. Such power may also allow it to keep Kashmir despite the on-gonig 'insurgency' of 'freedom movement'. In the face of such odds, India is reaping the benefit of liberal support from neo-cons etc in the US who want to devise some way of keeping China in check but forgetting Russia. The latter may pose considerable threat if the US policy suffers from the handicaps in future which it had to beat during the last 7 years.

Sun, May 18th 2008, 16:03

amarjyoti acharya

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Brand New Aircraft Carriers with brand new weapon systems and brand new state-of-the art air fighters come too expensive. Just holding elections = democracy kind of intrigues and its over-flowing coffers and Mount Everest "high" Human Development Indices do make for an interesting scenario as does its Human Rights records.
While it is true that India has always sought for a strong maritime presence that is inimical to its own defence - one should applaud its striving. Strategically, India would need a road-map in every sense. The tom-toming factor of breast-beating nationalism and "the prize goes to..." the loudest and shrillest of the voices in the cacaophony syndrome at its national level that permeates almost every level thanks to its unique 'affirmative action" plan and leadership over the years has taken everyone away that could have helped give it a road map. Nearly impossible now for it to find any roadmap. That is why one should applaud its strivings though within South Asia - it continues to have the strongest maritime presence. O' Ship, my Ship - where have the crew gone? best describes the situation, but the ship stays afloat. Yet, it does remain a strong maritime presence in South Asia.