India should prepare for 'disruptive' shifts in Indian Ocean: Jaishankar
India's External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, has cautioned the nation to brace itself for potential "disruptive" changes in the Indian Ocean. During an interactive session following a lecture at the Jasjit Singh memorial, Jaishankar expressed concerns over the growing presence of foreign powers in waters surrounding India. He emphasized that India must be ready to compete as he anticipates a significant shift in maritime presence that was previously non-existent.
Growing concerns over China's activities in Indian Ocean
Jaishankar's comments come amid increasing worries about China's expanding activities in the Indian Ocean. Notably, China has been dispatching naval and surveillance vessels to ports in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, areas traditionally within India's sphere of influence. Surveillance ships have been detected during Indian missile tests, leading experts to suspect they are collecting data for submarine warfare.
Jaishankar discusses India's maritime and neighbourhood policies
During his lecture, Jaishankar outlined India's "SAGAR" maritime initiative or "Security and Growth for All in the Region," which was launched nine years ago. He also touched on India's "Neighbourhood First" policy, highlighting successful collaborative efforts to strengthen economic ties with neighboring countries. As an example, he cited India's support for Sri Lanka during its worst economic crisis in decades.
Jaishankar emphasizes need for competition and hard work
Jaishankar acknowledged the challenges of dealing with neighboring countries but underscored the necessity of competition and hard work. "So, you know the neighborhood for any country, especially for big countries, will never be easy. But neighborhoods need hard work, and frankly, given some other neighbours that we have and they have, the neighborhood will also be very competitive," he said.
Jaishankar addresses India's geopolitical realities
But, at least in India's neighborhood, India has proven its ability to stand up, push its interests, compete against other countries, and often outresource and outperform them, he asserted. Jaishankar also referred to the "political ups and downs" with many of India's neighbors, stating these are realities that should be accepted. He pointed out that India is geographically at the center, has more resources and capabilities, and is significantly larger in size.
