What Is Important Of Indo Pacific | Burning Issues

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GEOPOLITICS OF INDO-PACIFIC

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific, sometimes known as the IndoWest Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, is a biogeographic region of Earth’s seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia.

INDO-PACIFIC

The term “Indo-Pacific” has featured during the just-concluded G20 summit as well as during US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s recent visit to Delhi.

THE ORIGIN OF INDO-PACIFIC

The German geopolitician Karl Haushofer first used it in the 1920s in his academic work called “Indopazifischen Raum“

THE ORIGIN OF INDO-PACIFIC

However, in the contemporary context, beginning the 2000s, analysts began to observe the ‘security‘ linkage between the two Oceans. In this context, the term was first used in an article authored by Gurpreet Khurana, which was carried in the January 2007 issue of the Strategic Analysis journal (Routledge/ IDSA) titled “Security of Sea Lines: Prospects for India-Japan Cooperation”. In the article, the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ refers to the maritime space stretching from the littorals of East Africa and West Asia, across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, to the littorals of East Asia.

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The spirit of the term was picked up by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, as reflected in his speech to the Indian Parliament in August 2007 that talked about the “Confluence of the Indian and Pacific Oceans” as “the dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and of prosperity” in the “broader Asia”. From 2010 onwards, the term Indo-Pacific acquired salience within the Indian government and has since been used often by India’s apex political leadership.

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The term’s profile was raised when it found mention in the joint statement issued by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump after the former’s state visit to the White House on 26 June 2017. “As responsible stewards in the Indo-Pacific region, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi agreed that a close partnership between the United States and India is central to peace and stability in the region.

CAUTIOUS INDIA

The move away from Asia-Pacific also seemed to elevate India to a position of prominence in the region, as a US ally that would help to contain China’s dominance. Towards this end, the adoption of the term also appeared to challenge India to play a larger role in the region, for instance in the Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that informally brings together for strategic talks and military exercises, the US, Japan, Australia and India.

CAUTIOUS INDIA

In June 2018, at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The Indo-Pacific is a natural region. It is also home to a vast array of global opportunities and challenges… The ten countries of South East Asia connect the two great oceans in both the geographical and civilisational sense. Inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity, therefore, lie at the heart of the new Indo-Pacific. India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeks to dominate. And by no means do we consider it as directed against any country. A geographical definition, as such, cannot be. India’s vision for the Indo-Pacific Region is, therefore, a positive one.”

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement, during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Delhi earlier this week captured some of that caution.
“On the Indo-Pacific, the point — the big point — I made was that the Indo-Pacific is for something, not against somebody. And that something is peace, security, stability, prosperity and rules,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the joint press meet with Pompeo in New Delhi