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Journalism of Courage
India,backed by its rising naval power is flexing its military muscle in the Indian Ocean in its bid to outmanoeuvre China in the region,even as the US and Japan are backing it in the great game with its traditional strategic rival,an Australian think-tank has said.
A new maritime great game is emerging in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),as strategic competition between India and China becomes evident, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has said in its report.
Each has fears of being contained by the other – in Chinas case,because India is supported by Japan and the US and the US continues to dominate the IOR strategically and militarily,it said.
India promotes itself as the dominant power of the region as it is obsessed by Chinas entry into the IOR and is making great use of its navy to spread power and influence, it added.
The Indian Ocean has become the focus of increasing strategic and political attention. Australia should be a pre-eminent country in the Indian Ocean region (IOR),but weve neglected it in favour of the Pacific,the report claimed.
We lack a holistic Indian Ocean policy,despite the fact that we have the largest area of maritime jurisdiction in the IOR.
Australia has extensive strategic,economic and environmental interests in the IOR; its not in our interests for the region to become an area of major power competition.
The greatest challenges to the protection of our offshore sovereignty and sovereign rights lie in the Indian Ocean, it said.
About one-third of our exports emanate from Western Australia,and major offshore developments underway off the west and northwest of the continent will be a key to our future prosperity. We need to work harder to plan for critical infrastructure protection,and the Australian Defence Force should increase its presence in this area, it added.
