Maritime guardians

The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ has gained prominence in the last decade with a renewed impetus into the region by the United States of America. Geographically, Indo-Pacific region, as defined by Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, stretches ‘from the East Coast of Africa to the Americas’. The region thus includes the wider Indian and the Pacific Oceans and the connecting seas bounded by several SE Asian and ASEAN countries. Several connecting constructs, either from Western powers such as the US, Japan, Australia; ASEAN countries, the European Union and India, have emerged in the last few years. These include the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD by Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the USA, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) of the USA, the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) by India and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) initiative of Japan, to name a few.

The common themes that emerge in the articulation of intent by other stakeholders of the Indo-Pacific include ‘Free and open Indo-Pacific’, Maritime security, ‘Enhancing connectivity and infrastructure’ and ‘Promoting free trade’ amongst Indo-Pacific countries as also the dominant theme which translates to enhancing prosperity through greater economic cooperation between countries.

India’s Indo-Pacific strategy

Based on the above, it could be argued that the primary aim of India’s Indo-Pacific Strategy remains to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region while enhancing cooperation on diverse but common areas of interest such as trade, infrastructure and maritime security. The initiatives being undertaken are not directed towards/ against any country in specific but for inclusive development through favourable reciprocal policies which accord greater value to like-minded partners. The positive outcome of these policy initiatives remains on the ability to keep the primary connecting medium i.e. seas, open for use and hence it could be premised that Maritime Security evolves as the Centre of Gravity of India’s Indo-Pacific strategy with the Indian Navy as its critical strength.

Indian Navy’s maritime security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific

Several maritime security initiatives have been undertaken by the Indian Navy in the past few years that have been in line with the broader intent of India’s Indo-Pacific policy. Significant amongst these is the participation in QUAD and the extension of the Malabar series of exercises to include Australia and Japan. The announcement of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative during the QUAD Summit in May 2022 has been a significant step towards enhancing maritime transparency in the Indo-Pacific through information sharing, with the Indian Navy likely to be the major partner in providing crucial inputs to other members through its existing Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR).

In the SE Asian region, the Indian Navy has significantly enhanced maritime cooperation with Vietnam with the transfer of INS Khukri, a missile corvette, in 2023 and a submarine to Myanmar. The Brahmos deal with the Philippines and the conduct of inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercises at the South China Sea in May 2023 are other key initiatives towards engaging with crucial ASEAN partners. The maritime security cooperation with Pacific Island countries has also significantly enhanced in the last few years with routine visits by warships to Fiji and Papua New Guinea in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Further, through bilateral mechanisms, the Indian Navy has also commenced routine deployment of its maritime patrol aircraft from several Indo-Pacific Island territories in support of maritime security and safety operations in the region.

Indian Navy’s multi-national biennial Naval exercise MILAN was greatly subscribed to by several Indo-Pacific countries with a record participation of over 50 countries and 20 warships in the 12th edition of the exercise conducted in February this year. The exercise has grown in complexity over the years and is now part of the global multi-national Naval exercise calendar. Reciprocally, IN has been actively participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise conducted by the US Navy and Ex Kakadu conducted by the Royal Australian Navy. The laudable performance of the Indian Navy’s frigates Satpura and Shivalik in the 2022 and 2024 iterations of RIMPAC have been praiseworthy and have showcased the Indian Navy’s professionalism and commitment towards safeguarding global commons in the region.

Bilateral exercises such as Samudra Laksamana (India-Malaysia), SIMBEX (Singapore – India), JIMEX (Japan – India), AUSINDEX (Australia – India) and Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) with several Indo-Pacific countries such as Myanmar, Seychelles, Thailand etc are being regularly conducted by the Navy. While keeping a broader lookout towards the East, the Indian Navy has continued to engage with Western partners in the Indo-Pacific Region, namely with East African and littoral countries. Partnership with Mozambique and Tanzania has significantly enhanced in recent years through several capacity-building initiatives, the conduct of the second edition of the Indian Mozambique Tanzania (IMT) trilateral exercise on February 24 and port visits by warships. Similarly, engagements with island countries such as Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius have continued to evolve with capacity and capability-building programmes in the maritime realm.

At the strategic discourse, the Naval think-tank National Maritime Foundation (NMF) has been conducting the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) since 2018 to generate discussions amongst academia in this increasingly significant region of interest. The latest edition of IPRD held in October 24 focussed on ‘Resource Geopolitics and Security in the Indo-Pacific’ and was attended by academic experts and practitioners from over twenty countries. Following up from the Goa Maritime Symposium 2024 held at the Naval War College, the dialogue witnessed interesting discourses with a commemorative address by the Hon’ble Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and a special address by the Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan. A key aspect of the IPRD was the Navy’s articulation of India’s own expression of the importance assigned to the Indo-Pacific region.

Future outlook

With the shift of the global economic CoG to the Indo-Pacific, and increasing competition amongst global powers to steer into the region, India would need to up her game to remain relevant in this emerging construct. This may require hard power initiatives including the formation of military constructs and militarisation of initiatives such as QUAD. The Indian Navy would also need to enhance its role in the larger Indo-Pacific region with a greater number of deployments beyond IOR and protecting freedom of navigation in disputed regions including the South China Sea, enhanced Naval cooperation with ASEAN countries with a higher impetus to capacity and capability building programmes and information and MDA sharing through existing forums such as IFC-IOR.

The writer is a Communication and Electronic Warfare specialist, and an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla and Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington. Views expressed are personal