scholarly journals Strategic Importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Implications for Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol I (I) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
Sameera Imran ◽  
Maryam Raza ◽  
Noor Fatima

The growing strategic importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is now changing the dynamics of Indian ocean and maritime politics. The sea politics is now has been more tangled than before. Viewed under the theory of offensive realism proposed by John Mearsheimer that holds the concept of power maximization of states and balancing strategies to counter their rival states as all states have some offensive capabilities and countries can never be certain about the intentions of other states. The ultimate goal is to dominate. Within that context, the study aims to examine the growing strategic importance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and its future prospects and implications on Pakistan. This paper analyzes the main indicators that India is presently working on, to develop its Tri-service theatre. The study seeks to answer the following questions a) How Andaman and Nicobar Islands are strategically important for India? b) How will the development of the two islands will change the dynamics of maritime politics and tackle increasing Chinese presence in Indian ocean? c) What will be the future implications or Pakistan? The study argues that the ANC is the significant factor for India to aggravate its control in the Indian Ocean region as it is developing its largest military and nuclear build-up. However, it can unleash negative imprints for Pakistan in future in certain aspects.

Significance The Andaman Sea is emerging as another theatre of India-China rivalry in the Indian Ocean region, its significance accentuated by a choke point at the Strait of Malacca on which China depends for military movements and trade security. Impacts Development of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands may increase opportunities for firms investing in energy and tourism infrastructure. Bangkok will draw closer to Beijing politically and economically. Instability around the Andaman Sea would increase security risks for South-east Asian countries.


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

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