{"id":326905,"date":"2025-02-15T17:29:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T11:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=326905"},"modified":"2025-02-15T17:29:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T11:59:38","slug":"indias-growing-influence-in-the-indian-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-growing-influence-in-the-indian-ocean\/","title":{"rendered":"India&#8217;s Growing Influence in the Indian Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: The post India&#8217;s Growing Influence in the Indian Ocean has been created, based on the article \u201c<strong>What India needs to do in the Indian Ocean<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201c<strong>Indian Express<\/strong>\u201d on 15th February 2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper2- International Relations-Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and\/or affecting India\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong>: The article discusses India&#8217;s role in the Indian Ocean and its maritime influence. It highlights historical trade, security challenges, and India&#8217;s naval neglect. It also covers efforts like the SAGAR initiative and India&#8217;s hosting of the <strong>Eighth Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Muscat.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For detailed information on <strong>India\u2019s rising power in the Indian Ocean <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/development-of-agalega-indias-rising-power-in-the-indian-ocean\/\">read this article here<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why is the Indian Ocean important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The Indian Ocean is the world\u2019s third-largest ocean and connects 26 countries.<\/li>\n<li>It handles <strong>70% of global container traffic<\/strong> and <strong>80% of India\u2019s external trade<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>90% of India\u2019s energy trade<\/strong> passes through its waters.<\/li>\n<li>The region is crucial for landlocked nations like <strong>Nepal and Bhutan<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Global powers like the <strong>US, UK, France, and China<\/strong> have a strong presence here.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What was India\u2019s historical role in the Indian Ocean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Ancient Indian traders like the <strong>Manigramam Chettis<\/strong> and <strong>Nanadesis<\/strong> dominated maritime trade.<\/li>\n<li>Indian kingdoms like the <strong>Andhras, Pallavas, and Cholas<\/strong> traded with the <strong>Arab world and Southeast Asia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kautilya\u2019s Arthashastra<\/strong> mentioned port commissioners, showing India&#8217;s early focus on maritime affairs.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>British colonial rulers<\/strong> did not develop India\u2019s naval power.<\/li>\n<li>After independence, India continued to focus more on land-based defense.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What challenges does the Indian Ocean region face today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Security threats<\/strong> include piracy, terrorism, arms trafficking, and illegal fishing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Climate challenges<\/strong> include rising sea levels, disaster relief, and evacuations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Undersea cables<\/strong>, mostly controlled by European and Chinese firms, are critical for global communication.<\/li>\n<li>The region has become a crowded space with ships from major global powers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>How is India strengthening its maritime presence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>India ranks <strong>20th in global shipbuilding<\/strong>, with only <strong>0.06% market share<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Diplomat <strong>K M Panikkar<\/strong>, in <em>India and the Indian Ocean<\/em> (1945), warned about India\u2019s maritime dependence.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>SAGAR Initiative (Security And Growth for All in the Region)<\/strong> was launched in <strong>2015<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>India is hosting the <strong>Eighth Indian Ocean Conference (IOC)<\/strong> in <strong>Muscat<\/strong> with <strong>30 countries<\/strong> participating.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What is the future of India\u2019s role in the Indian Ocean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Geopolitical strategist <strong>Alfred T. Mahan<\/strong> said that control over the Indian Ocean is key to global power.<\/li>\n<li>India aims to <strong>become a strong blue-water navy<\/strong> and lead the <strong>Global South<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>3.Regional leaders must ensure that <strong>the Indian Ocean remains under their control<\/strong> and is not dominated by external powers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Examine the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean and the challenges it faces today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post India&#8217;s Growing Influence in the Indian Ocean has been created, based on the article \u201cWhat India needs to do in the Indian Ocean\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 15th February 2025 UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2- International Relations-Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and\/or affecting India\u2019s interests. Context: The&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indias-growing-influence-in-the-indian-ocean\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">India&#8217;s Growing Influence in the Indian Ocean<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[212,10500,239],"class_list":["post-326905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","tag-international-relations","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}