12
Mar
India was a maritime power before China had even heard of the term. As Narendra Modi sets off on his ‘blue’ journey, he has a unique opportunity to secure India’s strategic interests by making the Indian Ocean the nation’s geopolitical nerve centre. If we needed a reality check, just last week a senior Chinese naval strategist declared China needed six aircraft carriers to ‘secure’ the Indian Ocean.
In 2011, India put in place the beginnings of an Indian Ocean policy with an informal grouping with Sri Lanka and Maldives. By 2014, Seychelles and Mauritius were invited as observers and a new division carved out in MEA. But in the past few months, India has crystallised a more comprehensive ‘blue’ policy, which will be articulated by Modi when he speaks at the National Day celebrations in Mauritius.
While China does the grand plan with the maritime silk road, Indian foreign policy is generally notorious for stringing a post facto narrative around unrelated events. Unusually, we can actually see the contours of a bigger maritime policy taking shape. For the first time, the Indian Ocean is being seen as an ‘integrated’ entity, stretching from the west coast of Australia to India’s immediate neighbours (Sri Lanka, Maldives), small island states in south-central Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Seychelles); later expansions should include Oman in the west and Mozambique.
Defence and security form the bedrock of the new maritime vision. It’s important here to look at the recent India-US decision to build India’s future aircraft carrier, a decision that got more resonance in Beijing than New Delhi. If we can build a couple of them with the coveted electromagnetic launching systems in the coming decade, India can seriously project power in its neighbourhood. India should soon get the first US-2 seaplanes from Japan, which should enhance ocean reach significantly.
India is also taking the first steps to utilising space assets to build greater maritime domain awareness, essential if India has to dominate the ocean. One of the world’s premier space faring nations, India should be able to build eyes and ears for the Indian Ocean, at least to withstand China’s growing disruptive space capabilities.
Modi will launch India’s first export warship to Mauritius, and over a dozen naval vessels will be exported in the next year. Rousing itself from an institutional lethargy, India is pushing its shipyards to build more ships and other vessels for small Indian Ocean island countries in this region. That, by the way, is another page in Make in India.
Hydrography is to maritime power what Bollywood is to Indian foreign policy. One of the global leaders in this crucial but unsexy science, India should offer to map the ocean for small countries for their development, defence and security, an invaluable service. Indian hydrographers have done fantastic work and its time they are included in our strategic outreach.
The second facet of the Indian Ocean vision is the new buzzword – ‘blue economy’, an idea already in operation in China. This is where India, with its unending coastline and EEZ can team successfully with Seychelles and Mauritius, even Mozambique and Tanzania for ‘blue development’. That is, sustainable harvesting of ocean wealth, tourism, biotechnology etc. from Lakshadweep’s 36 islands to Seychelles and Mozambique in a way that promotes mass employment in zero carbon sectors. India hasn’t yet focused on the blue economy, but this should be the future.