India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, stressed on Friday that India will have to be ready for what he defined as disruptive shifts in the Indian Ocean region. This warning is made given the increasing concerns about China’s growing influence in the region. In a question and answer session which followed a memorial lecture by Jasjit Singh on ‘India Strategic Planning in an Emerging Multipolar World’, Jaishankar outlined the need to counter changes in maritime strategies.
Describing his assumption about shifting rivals observed in India’s immediate neighborhood, Jaishankar said that it is likely to expand to the Indian Ocean. Though he did not mention the particular countries, he noted the increasing naval activity in this area and the fact that India was required to respond to these changes. The minister pointed out that instead of complaining about it, India should be ready to respond competitively. “That Indian Ocean, which did not have a naval power is getting a nod to a maritime presence that it perhaps was not ready of”, Jaishankar said speaking about the expansion by China of its naval patrols and surveillance in the Indian Ocean.
Jaishankar on India’s Maritime Strategy
He also expanded on India’s maritime vision on a concept called ‘SAGAR’, which means ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’. This policy was started nearly a decade ago and focuses on enhancing the security of the sea while boosting cooperation. The minister said that this idea is part of a larger plan for India to balance and thwart the emerging foreign dominance in the Indian Ocean region, especially China’s military and spying activities around the key ports in Sri Lanka and Maldives.
In regard to India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, Jaishankar said that the cooperation had been fruitful in the past and referred to recent examples such as India’s support to Sri Lanka during the country’s worst economic disaster. He agreed that the competition in the neighborhood is inevitable, though India has proved that it can set priorities and overshadow regional players.
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