Military competition in the Indian Ocean, states General Bipin Rawat

New Delhi: Defence Chief General Bipin Rawat indicated that China is preparing to establish its domination in the Indian Ocean region. General Rawat underlined the threat of the Chinese expansionist policies in suggestive words, ‘A military competition has been triggered in the Indian Ocean region to build strategically important military bases. More than 120 warships from world powers, not from this region, are present in the area.’

As of now, peace is prevailing in the Indian Ocean region. General Rawat clarified that the competition for acquiring strategically critical military bases is at its peak. General Rawat reminded this while addressing the Global Security Summit. Many countries are keen on reaping the benefits of economic growth in the Indian Ocean region. General Rawat underlined the importance of the Indian Ocean region saying, ‘Stress is being given on connectivity and blue economy, meaning, increasing communication between countries through the development of infrastructure facilities and marine economy for this purpose. Assistance is being sought in this from countries in the region. Countries from the region as well as from outside are showing keen interest in this.’

The Indian Defence Chief clarified the intentions behind this with a suggestive statement that this is an effort to increase the geopolitical influence in the region. While speaking on the subject ‘Contesting the Indo-Pacific for Global Domination,’ General Rawat gave out information attracting global attention. Since the last few years, the Chinese military and financial might have increased tremendously. Saying that the Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean also are rising in the same proportion, General Rawat pointed out that new challenges have come forward in the sector due to these Chinese ambitions.

Currently, there are 120 warships from countries outside the region, on various missions, in the Indian Ocean region. Although peace is prevailing in the area as of now, it is not possible that the region will remain peaceful in the future. At the same time, General Rawat expressed hope that the technology used in this sector will be constructive and will not become a source of destruction. General Rawat also voiced confidence that various systems can be built to bring peace and stability to this region, and multilateral cooperation can be sought for this purpose.

India has a natural influence on the Indian Ocean region. But China is posing a challenge to the Indian influence since the last few years. China tried using the countries from this region for this purpose. The Chinese dominating activities from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean are threatening global peace and stability. To focus on this, the United States, Japan and Australia presented a concept of Indo-Pacific to include both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The United States even changed the name of its Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific Command in 2018.

At the same time, the United States, Japan and Australia are appealing to India to increase the scope of its activities beyond the Indian Ocean and play a role even in the Pacific Ocean. The QUAD association of these four countries is emerging stronger, which is making China very restless. Indian analysts are claiming that the Chinese attempt to corner India in the Indian Ocean region itself is being foiled because of this. Analysts are also appealing that India should play a more active role in QUAD to keep China under reasonable control.