China and India in the Indian Ocean Region

China Report ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Uday Bhaskar

China and India have divergent political ideologies, characteristics, aspirations, anxieties, and hence their strategic perceptions and orientations differ. Their strategic interaction in southern Asia has for its backdrop the 1962 border conflict. In terms of maritime security, the Pacific–Indian Ocean continuum has become the centre of gravity post-9/11 with both China and India having long-term growth trajectories in terms of naval power, a process skewed in favour of the PLA Navy (PLAN). Cognisance of the maritime dependency index for energy and anxieties about secure sea-lines of communication (SLOC) by China and India give rise to a ‘Malacca dilemma’ and a ‘Hormuz dilemma’ respectively. The firm belief at the politico-military apex that Beijing’s future strategic profile and relevance is inexorably linked with its naval capability gives the PLAN a steadily increasing footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Active political engagements and long-term port investments in the IOR by Beijing, though presented as benign, trigger concerns in India. These equations are influenced by a three-tiered strategic subalternity in Asia between the US (and its allies), China and India. The manner in which contested territoriality between the Asian neighbours will be resolved is the key on which future outcomes depend. While this may point towards China acquiring a military edge in the IOR, for India prudence, restraint and capacity-building remain vital.

China and India are fast emerging as major powers of the Indo-Pacific. As their wealth, power, and interests expand, the two countries are increasingly coming into contact with each other in the maritime domain. This book is an excellent resource in understanding the evolving maritime security roles of India and China in the Indo-Pacific, mutual perceptions of those countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), and how they are likely to interact as major maritime powers in the coming decades....


Author(s):  
Maciej Karczewski

The Indian Ocean constitutes an area which is rich in resources and vital to shipping. In this region there are some strategic sealines that enable communication of China and India with this resourceful area. Due to the fact that the Indian Ocean region is rich in oil, China and India seek dominance in this part of the world. The article explains and describes the dynamic of greatpower rivalry in various aspects. It also analyzes the role of the Unites States as stabilizing power in the new political and economic environment in Asia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-137
Author(s):  
Olivia Gippner

Piracy and threats from non-state actors in the Gulf of Aden have triggered states to cooperate in securing waterways and the sea lines of communication, a development that is fundamentally transforming the region's maritime security environment. As a result, not only has this region's strategic importance been reaffirmed, but it has also gained tremendous importance through the presence of several actors, especially China and India. Since 2008, these two countries have been involved in larger global actions against piracy, which has led to increasing contact between their navies and more exposure of their capabilities. Will the broader Indian Ocean region emerge as an area of cooperation or competition between China and India? Drawing on interviews carried out with Chinese and European experts from 2012 to 2015, this article explores the reasons for and instruments of cooperation in antipiracy and the degree to which China uses antipiracy efforts as confidence-building measures.


Author(s):  
David Brewster

This chapter examines Indian and Chinese perspectives of each other as major powers and their respective roles in the Indian Ocean. It focuses on the following elements: (a) China’s strategic imperatives in the Indian Ocean Region, (b) India’s views on its special role in the Indian Ocean and the legitimacy of the presence of other powers, (c) China’s strategic vulnerabilities in the Indian Ocean and India’s wish to leverage those vulnerabilities, (d) the asymmetry in Indian and Chinese threat perceptions, and (d) Chinese perspectives of the status of India in the international system and India’s claims to a special role in the Indian Ocean. The chapter concludes that even if China were to take a more transparent approach to its activities, significant differences in perceptions of threat and over status and legitimacy will produce a highly competitive dynamic between them in the maritime domain.


Author(s):  
Caroline C. Ummenhofer ◽  
Sujata A. Murty ◽  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Tong Lee ◽  
Nerilie J. Abram

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Lihua Yuan ◽  
Xiaoqiang Chen ◽  
Changqing Song ◽  
Danping Cao ◽  
Hong Yi

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become one of the main economic forces globally, and countries within the IOR have attempted to promote their intra-regional trade. This study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the community structures of the intra-regional trade and the impact of determinant factors on the formation of trade community structures of the IOR from 1996 to 2017 using the methods of social network analysis. Trade communities are groups of countries with measurably denser intra-trade ties but with extra-trade ties that are measurably sparser among different communities. The results show that the extent of trade integration and the trade community structures of the IOR changed from strengthening between 1996 and 2014 to weakening between 2015 and 2017. The largest explanatory power of the formation of the IOR trade community structures was the IOR countries’ economic size, indicating that market remained the strongest driver. The second-largest explanatory power was geographical proximity, suggesting that countries within the IOR engaged in intra-regional trade still tended to select geographically proximate trading partners. The third- and the fourth-largest were common civilization and regional organizational memberships, respectively. This indicates that sharing a common civilization and constructing intra-regional institutional arrangements (especially open trade policies) helped the countries within the IOR strengthen their trade communities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Sainandan S. Iyer ◽  
Ranadhir Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Sridhar D. Iyer

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document