Restive Indian Ocean calls for a new vision
By
Arun Prakash
Feb 05, 2024 10:00 PM IST

Strategists and diplomats need to craft policies that boost India’s maritime power and also foster a favourable “sphere of influence” for its employment

The sudden instigation of maritime terrorism by Houthi rebels, as well as the revival of piracy around the Horn of Africa, has cast the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) into a state of ferment. While the Indian Navy (IN)’s bold interventions have invited well-deserved applause, the implications of this crisis require New Delhi to undertake not only a review of the strategic environment but also a reappraisal of its neighbourhood policies through the twin prisms of diplomacy and strategy.

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde along with officers on INS Imphal, during its commissioning ceremony into the Indian Navy at Mumbai naval base (Bhushan Koyande/ HT)(HT_PRINT)