Even though it seems clear that the US and India are not ready for joint patrols, the trial balloon is indicative of the evolving Indian position on one of the key disputes in the Asian strategic landscape. A number of factors are forcing India’s hand. The US itself has been forced to adopt a more robust posture in the Indo-Pacific. The dramatic acceleration in American military commitment to the region is a function of the astonishing rise of China, which is becoming a serious regional military power.
Since most of China’s territorial conflicts are spread across the East and South China Seas, naval force projection has gained uncharacteristic momentum for a country that, for most of its history, had a continental mind-set. China’s maritime strategy and its increasing capabilities may overwhelm the smaller powers in the region. Its singular objective is to deny them any operational space in its oceanic sphere of influence. Against this background, US Prsident Barack Obama’s ‘pivot’ towards Asia represents an attempt to warn China away from using heavy-handed tactics against its neighbours and provide confidence to other Asia-Pacific countries that want to resist pressure from Beijing.
Maritime security cooperation between India and the US has become a strategic necessity. American strategy, according to some in the US, should focus on supporting Indian pre-eminence in the Indian Ocean and closer US-India strategic cooperation.
India has to respond to this burden of growing expectations and it has its own reasons for challenging China.
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