Indo-Pacific

Envisioned as a sustainable alternative to China’s BRI, US-led Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative seeks to narrow down infrastructure deficit in the developing world. However, with their several distinct areas of focus, BRI & B3W can possibly share both complementary & competitive equations.

The future of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) will depend on the choices that China makes.

India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific not only accommodates Russia’s clamour for ASEAN centrality but also complements its Greater Eurasia construct.

Abe Shinzo made his mark as an astute statesman in international politics with intellectual bandwidth and a global vision to conceptualise grand strategic constructs such as the Free and Open Indo-Pacific anchored on universal values.

With Chinese unilateral efforts altering the maritime status quo on the one hand and lack of progress on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula on the other, Japan is revisiting its strategic options.

Considering that the US, Japan, Australia and India are committed to working for a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific, it is time for India’s strategic partners to review their cartographic positions on India’s borders.

The world is witnessing a geopolitical shift from the North Atlantic to the Indo–Pacific region. US power is in relative decline with a steady build-up of Chinese power, wealth and influence. The last 15–20 years have also seen the rise of India. Against this backdrop, Australia’s reconceptualisation of its strategic frame as the Indo–Pacific widens its geopolitical canvas and elevates India’s importance for multiple Australian interests and objectives.

India should take the lead in forming an overarching security quad along with Australia, Japan and the US in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia has a vital interest in preventing the Indian Ocean Region from becoming an arena of great power rivalry, including between India and China. The 2013 Defence White Paper clearly delineates the Indo-Pacific as an area of supreme importance to Australia. Developing a close strategic partnership with India is an important part of this strategy.

The emergence of the Indo-Pacific as a new geopolitical frame of reference is embedded in the growing strategic importance of the maritime domain and the rise of states that have demonstrated the ability to ‘transcend’ their respective subregions. However, the Indo-Pacific remains a concept in its infancy, as evidenced by the fact that it continues to compete with alternative conceptions of regional space in Asia.