Muscat/New Delhi, Feb 16 (UNI) The Indian Ocean is a global lifeline, with its production, consumption, contribution and connectivity being central to the world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today, adding that at its one end the Middle East conflict is going on and could escalate, while at its other end the Indo-Pacific is witnessing tensions, including over unilateral changes to the status quo.
Addressing the Indian Ocean Conference 2025: ‘Voyage to New Horizons of Maritime Partnership’ in Muscat, the EAM outlined 10 ways in which India is contributing by rapidly strengthening its own capabilities and forging partnerships with Indian Ocean neighbours, near and far.
“In the Middle East/West Asia, there is a serious conflict underway with the potential for further escalation and complication. At the same time, longstanding issues are being revisited, sometimes with a radically different approach. Its maritime consequence is visible in a serious disruption of global shipping, with considerable cost to our economies.
“The Indo-Pacific has been witnessing deeper tensions and sharper contestations. The scenario is intrinsically maritime in nature, involving respect for and observance of international law. There are other concerns, some related and some autonomous. Stronger assertions of interests is one issue; concern about unilateral changes to the status quo another,” the EAM said, in an oblique reference to China and its hegemonistic behaviour in the South China Sea.
“From India’s own experience, we can say that adhering to agreements and understandings is a central element to ensuring stability and predictability,” he added, in reference to the India-China LAC agreements.
The EAM said like other parts of the Global South, the Indian Ocean nations too face resource constraints and economic headwinds, with many struggling to meet their SDG targets. “In quite a few cases, debt is a serious concern. Some of that arises from stresses of the international economy, but in certain cases, from imprudent borrowing and unviable projects,” he said, in an allusion to countries falling into deep debt due to projects financed by Beijing.
He said in order to make rebuilding connectivity in the region “a truly shared endeavor, it is vital to ensure that connectivity initiatives are consultative and transparent, not unilateral and opaque”—in reference to China’s BRI connectivity projects.
Indian Ocean nations are also facing challenges to monitor their EEZ and secure their fishing interests. “Nor can they be impervious to illegal trafficking of various kinds and the spectre of terrorism. Each of these dimensions – and certainly their cumulative impact – has a strong maritime implication. Our journey to new horizons must necessarily focus on addressing these challenges,” the EAM said.
He outlined how India has been doing its bit in the Indian Ocean region.
From the time of Covid and its aftermath, India has been the source of vaccines, medicines, food, fuel and fertilizer for many countries in the region, with the biggest commitment being made to Sri Lanka – a financial package of USD 4 billion to stabilize its economy that had slid into a crisis.
He said the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the India Myanmar Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMTT) would be among the two key collaborative connectivity initiatives under consideration, as well as the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). “India is obviously the common element in all of them. IMEC and INSTC have an explicit maritime segment, while the IMTT would provide a land link between India and the Pacific.”
India has been active as a First Responder in the Indian Ocean region, ranging from the conflict in Yemen, natural disasters in Mozambique, Sri Lanka or Myanmar, earthquake in Nepal and Turkiye or a water crisis in the Maldives. Both off Mauritius and Sri Lanka, India has responded to significant oil spills.
India has been active in encouraging plurilateral cooperation, with the Quad as the most notable of the initiatives that encourages interoperability and cooperation.
The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region, located outside Delhi, is a common operating platform. ”By establishing coastal surveillance radars and partnering on White Shipping agreements, maritime traffic is made safer and more secure for our collective benefit.”
For more than a year, India has been participating in coordinated responses, including through the deployment of its naval forces, in the Northern Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden, he said referring to the Houthi attacks on maritime shipping in the Red Sea region.
India has been participating in training and equipping other navies and coast guards as part of this, in collaboration with countries like Vietnam, Mauritius, Mozambique and Sri Lanka.
“Ensuring trusted communication in a digital era is a crucial national security objective. Participating in consortiums is therefore an inevitable outcome. Both as government and as vendor, India is contributing its fair share and more in this regard,” he added.
“The Indo–Pacific is experiencing activity of both resident and non–resident powers. Harmonizing them is a challenge that India, in particular, is well placed to address. It has the confidence of the Global South as well as the credentials to engage major powers. We strive to ensure that agendas alien to our ethos and outlook are not inserted in the region. And equally encourage respect for UNCLOS in both spirit and letter,” the EAM said, in another barb at China that does not care to abide by international laws.
India has been energetic in institution-building in the Indian Ocean region, like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) whose current Secretary General is a senior Indian diplomat; the BIMSTEC; the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), the Colombo Security Conclave; the India Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and the Indian Ocean Conference, the EAM outlined.
“Our voyage to new horizons is best done as a coordinated flotilla of the Indian Ocean. We are understandably a diverse group in terms of history, geography, development, politics or culture. But what unites us is a common devotion to the well-being of the Indian Ocean region. In a volatile and uncertain era, we seek stability and security as the baseline. But beyond that, there are ambitions and aspirations that we strive to achieve. They will be easier reached when we look out for each other, supplement our strengths and coordinate our policies. I can assure you all that India will be in the forefront of these endeavours,” EAM said.
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