By SK Chatterji
The Indian prime minister has recently visited three small but strategically significant Indian neighbors.
The power equations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) have implications not only for the littoral states but for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Through the Indian Ocean run some of the busiest sea lanes globally, as oil and natural resources traverse from west to east to feed the burgeoning needs of the world’s second largest economy, China, and the country it dislodged from that slot, Japan. By virtue of its size, geographic location, and economic and military potential India is expected to play a leading role in keeping the sea lanes of communication through the Indian Ocean safe for international trade and commerce.
The growing might of the Chinese Navy and its outreach to IOR nations is a concern, one not entirely limited to India. China’s aggressive posture in the South China Sea is shaping regional apprehensions. Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and even Australia and Japan are anxious. Given its assertiveness in the South China Sea, Chinese plans of a Maritime Silk Route ring bells in many a capital.
It’s essential that we grasp the contours of the Maritime Silk Route before we progress further. The route originates from Quanzhou in Fujian province and, after berthing at Hainan, passes through the Malacca Straits to find anchorage at Kolkata, India. The Chinese map makes no mention of Sitwe in Myanmar or Chittagong, Bangladesh as possible stopovers enroute. Beyond Kolkata, the route conspicuously skirts Hambantota, Sri Lanka, a port facility that Mahinda Rajapaksa, the recently ousted Sri Lankan president, was laying open to Chinese interests. The Silk Route continues west and traverses the Red Sea to dock at Athens and thereon to Venice where the confluence of the maritime and land silk routes occur. Gwadar, Pakistan, where the Chinese have built a mammoth deep-sea port, is also ignored.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently undertook a five-day tour of three Indian Ocean countries, displaying an active foreign policy intent after a period of prolonged drift. His ports of call, Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, are located strategically in the Indian Ocean region.
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