Jaishankar Warns of 'Disruptive' Changes in Indian Ocean Amid Rising Maritime Competition

The Indian Ocean is poised for 'disruptive' changes and India needs to prepare for it, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday against the backdrop of concerns over China's increasing maritime forays into the region.

In an interactive session at a think-tank, Jaishankar, without naming any country, said the competition that has been witnessed around India's neighbourhood will definitely happen in the Indian Ocean too.

The external affairs minister, replying to a question, talked about competition in the neighbourhood, and said there's 'no point moaning and groaning about it' as India needs to compete and that's really what it is trying to do.

He said India is braced for competition in the Indian Ocean just as it is braced for competition in the rest of the neighbourhood.

"I think the Indian Ocean is already seeing the beginnings of maritime presence which was not there before. So it is poised for a disruptive change. I think we need to anticipate it and we need to prepare for it," he said.

China has gradually been increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean that is largely considered as the backyard of the Indian Navy.

Jaishankar made the remarks while responding to a question after delivering the Jasjit Singh Memorial Lecture at the Centre for Airpower Studies.

The external affairs minister also explained the reasons behind India's maritime initiative 'SAGAR' or Security and Growth for all in the Region that was rolled out nine years back.

India has been cooperating with the countries of the Indian Ocean region under the broader policy framework of SAGAR or Security and Growth for all in the Region.

To a question on India's neighbourhood first policy, Jaishankar cited various examples of successful collaborative approach and said the aim was to economically bring the neighbours much closer.

He specifically mentioned India's assistance to various countries in the neighbourhood during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as its support to Sri Lanka when it was reeling under an economic crisis.

"So, you know the neighbourhoods for any country, especially for big countries, will never be easy. But neighbourhoods need hard work and frankly, given some other neighbours that we have and they have, the neighbourhood will also be very competitive," he said.

"There's no point moaning and groaning about it. I think if we have a competition, we need to compete and that's really what we are trying to do," Jaishankar said.

"So at least in our neighbourhood, we have shown that we have the ability to stand up, to push our interests, to compete against other countries, and often I would say out-resource them and definitely outperformed them. So I think we have a very solid record of that," he said.

The external affairs minister elaborated on the work being done by the government to boost cooperation with countries in the neighbourhood.

"We recognised today that given our history, given the size of the neighbours, given the sociology of our neighbours and of ourselves, that these are not easy relationships to manage," he said.

Jaishankar touched upon 'political ups and downs' with many of India's neighbours, adding these are 'realities' that need to be accepted.

"But we also need to appreciate that we today have more resources, more capabilities, we are geographically at the centre, and our size is so much bigger," he said.

"From time-to-time, we are challenged. There have been occasions in some of our neighbours when we have become a political issue,' he added.

"And if you look at the extent of proving, I would actually suggest to you that we have done some good work there and that we have actually managed to mitigate some very sharp situationism," he added.

In his address, Jaishankar said the global landscape has changed and will continue to do so.

"India's primary concerns and challenges also have, reflecting that transformation. We are looking at new forms of competition that take advantage of high inter-penetration and interdependence," he said.

The external affairs minister said the task before India is to effectively address challenges and confidently exploit opportunities.

"We have more resources now, but also have higher stakes. There is no question that the world is more volatile and it is more complicated," he said.