Geopolitics in Indian Ocean Region: Through the Indian Lens

Abstract

This paper attempt to analyse the dynamics of the changing relations between the countries in the Indian Ocean region. Globally, the Indian Ocean Region holds a very crucial place due to its geo strategic importance. The struggle for power and to get a better hold of the region through which the major portion of the world trade passes through, the power rivalry is at its zenith. As new relations and groups emerge, the old powers and relationship which dominated the region in the past are fading. The emergence of India and China as the new economic giants has entirely changed the power dynamics in the Indian Ocean region. The rivalry between America and China turned the situation more critical. The resurgence of the QUAD grouping in the recent times against the dominance of the china in the region is a very bold and critical step at this juncture of time when in the third decade of the 21st century the world is grappling with a deadly coronavirus pandemic on one side and China trying to turn the 21st century into the Chinese century on the other side. The warm and friendly relations between India and America also turned out as irritant for the china. The article diagnoses the interaction between different rising and fading superpowers in the backdrop of geopolitics in the Indian ocean.