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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on October 24, 2024

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The Indo-Pacific: A strategic arena for India’s global influence

For Preliminary Examination:  Current events of national and international importance

For Mains Examination: GS II - International relations

Context:

As the Indo-Pacific region evolves into a key driver of the changing world order, India is poised to play a major role. But in what ways can India's involvement in the Indo-Pacific contribute to an inclusive, cooperative and sustainable regional order?

Read about: 

What is Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs’ Conference (IPACC)?

Key takeaways:

The Indo-Pacific has become a crucial geopolitical and strategic zone, with India reaffirming its strong dedication to maintaining a free, open, inclusive, and resilient region. India's vision, as a key actor in the Indo-Pacific, prioritizes collaboration with regional partners to ensure maritime security, freedom of navigation, and adherence to a rules-based international order.

Initiatives like the “Quad-at-sea Ship Observation Mission,” aimed at enhancing cooperation and maritime safety, have further spotlighted the Indo-Pacific as a significant geopolitical, economic, and security construct, especially in a dynamic global landscape.

Understanding the Indo-Pacific’s rise as a strategic concept requires examining its regional framework, key players, and the factors behind its growing importance.

What is the Indo-Pacific?

• The Indo-Pacific covers the vast areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well as the nations bordering them, including essential maritime routes and resources. Critical chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca, Taiwan Strait, Bab-al-Mandeb, and the South China Sea are vital for global trade and energy supplies.
• However, the exact geographical boundaries of the Indo-Pacific differ by country. For instance, India views the Indo-Pacific as stretching "from the shores of Africa to the Americas," as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue address.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. defines it as the region from India's western coast to the western U.S., and Australia’s Foreign Policy White Paper describes it as spanning from the eastern Indian Ocean to the Pacific, encompassing Southeast Asia, North Asia, and the U.S. Japan’s "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" vision also extends to the eastern African coast and ASEAN countries.

These diverse perspectives reflect each nation's strategic and economic priorities, shaping how they approach the Indo-Pacific as an arena for both cooperation and competition in the 21st century.

From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific

The idea of the Indo-Pacific as a strategic region has evolved throughout the 21st century, especially in the last decade, as seen in various security strategies and defense white papers. This shift from the "Asia-Pacific" to the "Indo-Pacific" highlights a broader, more inclusive approach driven by national, regional, and global factors. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one of the early advocates for combining the Indian and Pacific Oceans into a single strategic space, which he discussed in his "Confluence of the Two Seas" speech at the Indian Parliament.

The U.S. policy shift, encapsulated in the "Pivot to Asia" strategy of 2011 under President Barack Obama, also marked the beginning of greater focus on the Indo-Pacific, aligning with the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the refocusing of U.S. interests toward