India’s Strategic Interests and Partnership with Island States of Africa in the Western Indian Ocean Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-243
Author(s):  
Raghvendra Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Island States ◽  
Global Power ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
Indian Ocean Island ◽  
The Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean has turned into the new geographical centre of power, where global power dynamics is being revealed. It has been transformed into a geostrategic heartland, forecasting new challenges and opportunities, and at the core of this is an emerging power, India, which, being located at a strategic juncture in the Indian Ocean, shapes much of this geostrategic transformation. Therefore, sustaining and improving security and continuing economic expansion, with an increased strategic presence in the region to safeguard its national, regional and global interests are some of the elements which greatly influence India’s involvement with the strategic island states of Africa in the Western Indian Ocean Region. In this backdrop, this article has tried to contextualise the ‘Western Indian Ocean Region’ and ‘situate the actors’ to explore the various contours of geostrategic engagements the region is witnessing. Further, the article examines India’s strategic interests in the Western Indian Ocean, which are critical for its global power aspirations. It discusses the linkages between India and the Western Indian Ocean island states of Africa, which would become the precursor for newer strategies and help in harnessing the potential of mutually beneficial cooperation. Lastly, the article seeks to re-engage with the island states of Africa to help forge a deeper cultural and strategic bond, which would be crucial in balancing the power equation in the region.

Diversity and distribution of avian haematozoan parasites in the western Indian Ocean region: a molecular survey

Parasitology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
FARAH ISHTIAQ ◽  
JON S. BEADELL ◽  
BEN H.WARREN ◽  
ROBERT C. FLEISCHER
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Molecular Survey ◽  
Limited Sampling ◽  
Avian Blood ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Indian Ocean

SUMMARYThe genetic diversity of haematozoan parasites in island avifauna has only recently begun to be explored, despite the potential insight that these data can provide into the history of association between hosts and parasites and the possible threat posed to island endemics. We used mitochondrial DNA sequencing to characterize the diversity of 2 genera of vector-mediated parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in avian blood samples from the western Indian Ocean region and explored their relationship with parasites from continental Africa. We detected infections in 68 out of 150 (45 3%) individuals and cytochrome b sequences identified 9 genetically distinct lineages of Plasmodium spp. and 7 lineages of Haemoproteus spp. We found considerable heterogeneity in parasite lineage composition across islands, although limited sampling may, in part, be responsible for perceived differences. Two lineages of Plasmodium spp. and 2 lineages of Haemoproteus spp. were shared by hosts in the Indian Ocean and also on mainland Africa, suggesting that these lineages may have arrived relatively recently. Polyphyly of island parasites indicated that these parasites were unlikely to constitute an endemic radiation and instead probably represent multiple colonization events. This study represents the first molecular survey of vector-mediated parasites in the western Indian Ocean, and has uncovered a diversity of parasites. Full understanding of parasite community composition and possible threats to endemic avian hosts will require comprehensive surveys across the avifauna of this region.

A Contest of Status and Legitimacy in the Indian Ocean

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brewster
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
International System ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Asymmetry

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.

Heat and freshwater changes in the Indian Ocean region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline C. Ummenhofer ◽  
Sujata A. Murty ◽  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Tong Lee ◽  
Nerilie J. Abram
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Indian Ocean

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Evolution and Determinant Factors of the Intra-Regional Trade Community Structures of the Indian Ocean Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Lihua Yuan ◽  
Xiaoqiang Chen ◽  
Changqing Song ◽  
Danping Cao ◽  
Hong Yi
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Community Structures ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Spatiotemporal Evolution ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Determinant Factors ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Impact

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.

The Sino-Indian Geopolitics and Maritime Security of the Indian Ocean Region

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Sainandan S. Iyer ◽  
Ranadhir Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Sridhar D. Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Maritime Security ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Indian Ocean

“Research in the Western Indian Ocean Region” Conference’: Preliminary Report and Recommendations

1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Aidan Southall
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Research Committee ◽  
Northwestern University ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
Syracuse University

The conference was sponsored by the African Research Committee and was held at the Minnowbrook Conference Center of Syracuse University from October 30 to November 2, 1965. The disciplines represented were social and cultural anthropology, musicology, sociology, social psychology, political science, and history. Participants included Philip Allen (Department of State); Frederick Burke (Syracuse University); Remi Clignet (Northwestern University); L. Gray Cowan (Columbia University); Norma McCloud (Tulane University); John Middleton (Northwestern University); Allen Rawick (Library of Congress); Aidan Southall, Chairman (Syracuse University); and Peter Wilson (Yale University). The conference concentrated its efforts on seeking and sharing a common understanding of the social background of the diverse ocean and island region that includes Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and the Seychelles and on exploring precisely the extent to which linked interdisciplinary and comparative studies would be fruitful. The conference came to a strong and unanimous conclusion that the Western Indian Ocean Region offers the challenging possiblity of a real breakthrough in a number of dissimilar but closely interlocking research interests. The main recommendations of the conference are as follows: 1. That a rather informal clearinghouse should be established which would institute and maintain contact between social scientists interested in the region and keep them up to date on all relevant plans and work in progress. 2. That a careful and detailed application should be drawn up to obtain funds for carrying out a series of well-balanced and integrated studies, attracting graduate students and training them for further work, securing library resources, and forming appropriate ties with interested scholars and academic institutions overseas.

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