Courtesy: Radio Free Asia
The recently-enacted China Coast Guard laws have renewed uncertainty in the South China Sea. India must work with the Quad to build collective maritime competence of maritime law enforcement agencies beyond the Indian Ocean Region within the Indo-Pacific.
Courtesy: US Navy/Twitter
Australia's much-awaited inclusion at the Malabar Exercise-2020 reflects a hard reset in India's foreign policy that was traditionally accommodative to Chinese concerns on the militarisation of the Quad. In the backdrop of the on-going stand-off with China at the Ladakh border, the Indian Navy has maintained a high operational tempo and deployed the highest numbers of frontline assets during this edition of the Malabar Exercise. India must build on this strategic vision and work towards including France at the next edition of Malabar in 2021.
Courtesy: Shutterstock
Taiwan’s increasing threat of takeover from China by possible amphibious assault reveals the urgent need for the island to strengthen its defences. The commencement of the construction phase of the Indigenous Defence Submarine programme, is a crucial step in Taiwan’s quest to build a credible deterrence to counter sustained Chinese diplomatic and economic intimidation and technology denial.
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The record of regional cooperation on rivers since India's independence in 1947 is one of several successes, with some contestations. In contrast to the past when governments strove to divide and share river waters, the endeavor has now shifted to thinking about comprehensive river basin development which makes the process even more complex. India’s policy on transboundary river governance must now also be aware of the increasing importance of Indo-Pacific in the global geopolitics.
Courtesy: USGS/Wikimedia
The recent use of geospatial analyses by Indian social and mainstream media for near real-time defence and military intelligence in Ladakh has been made possible because of the lower cost of earth-observation satellite construction, and thereby, easy access to satellite imagery on the internet. While independent analysis is useful, the same intelligence can be also used against the interests of a sovereign nation by an adversary, especially border imagery. India must find innovative methods to reduce this vulnerability of commercial satellite imagery.
Courtesy: Tasnim News Agency
The Quad is set to launch a satellite-based maritime security initiative to monitor illegal fishing by the Chinese maritime militia. This is long overdue. China’s ‘little blue men’ are recruited from its fishing communities but are in fact official members of a well networked and controlled defense force engaged in regional grey zone warfare.
Courtesy: Shutterstock/Gateway House
China’s escalating actions in the wake of the COVID-19 catastrophe is a calculated strategic diversion and risk. In the Indo-Pacific, tensions between China and the U.S., Australia, India and others are building momentum. As a geopolitical partnership, the relevance of the Quad is now proven. There are clear ways to empower it immediately, and make it a resilient grouping.
Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
At the 4 June, India-Australia, virtual summit, one of the most critical, among several agreements signed, was the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA). India has logistics support agreements with many countries. How is the MLSA with Australia any different? Given the geo-strategic maritime competition with China, this agreement is uniquely significant and could be especially beneficial for the Indian Navy.
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India needs its own merchant fleet to run parallel with its increasingly strong navy. The geopolitical and geoeconomic compulsions have never been greater. India’s growing imports and exports of crude oil, LPG, and coal are all carried on foreign-owned shipping vessels, depriving the country of revenue and creating a geopolitical imbalance with an increasingly strong Indian navy that is set to play a significant role in the Indo-Pacific
Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
India and France have converging interests in the Indo-Pacific – diplomatic, strategic and economic. The 4th Indo-French Maritime Security Dialogue held in New Delhi in December 2019 was an example of major bilateral cooperation. By working together, the two countries became the model for fostering a rules-based, free, open and inclusive region.