Conference Program

The geopolitical significance of the Indo-Pacific region in the 21st century is underscored by the prevalence of security challenges, prompting key actors to assume leadership roles aimed at upholding regional peace and stability. This necessitates sustained collaborative actions involving both state and non-state actors.

India's policy of multi-alignment endows it with strategic flexibility, facilitating engagement with a diverse array of actors while deliberately eschewing exclusive alliances. This strategic approach empowers India to adeptly navigate evolving geopolitical dynamics without succumbing to the constraints imposed by rigid commitments. Nevertheless, there exist certain situations where a more definitive and explicit stance from India becomes imperative. Such instances necessitate a clear and concrete response from India, substantiating its status as a dependable partner rather than merely adopting a bandwagoning strategy.

This research, focusing on India as a prominent regional leader, endeavors to scrutinize the ramifications of its adherence to the principle of "Strategic Autonomy" within the realm of foreign policy. Specifically, it delves into how this strategic autonomy contributes to trust-building processes and the establishment of a comprehensive security architecture in the Indo-Pacific region.

The central inquiries guiding this investigation are twofold: first, what role does India actively assume in shaping the Indo-Pacific regional security architecture? Second, to what extent does India's adoption of a strategy of multiple alignments influence its role and impact in the broader regional context?

The first two decades of the 21st century brought a dynamic cognitive and axiological change for the biggest navies in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain. India, China, and the US recognized the urgency of qualitative and quantitative changes in their naval strategies. India and the US focused on developing institutional cooperation based on the experience of the December 26th, 2004 tsunami and the struggling piracy to secure Strategic Lines of Communication (SLOCs). Building up India's military shipyard capacities in cooperation with the US was also among the priorities. In the first decade of this century, China was preoccupied with territorial disputes in the South China Sea; then, it shifted priorities to building security posts along SLOCs and implementing the Belt and Road Initiative of maritime infrastructure network in the Indo-Pacific. Interpreting the rise of China as a threat to its existential interests in the region, the US reintroduced the UK into the Indo-Pacific by signing a nuclear submarine building program (AUKUS). The paper's main goal is to analyze the endeavors of India, the US, and China to implement their vision of regional security under conditions of trilateral interdependence. Using the theoretical framework of the constructivist theory, the paper, showing the balance in the maritime strategies of three main actors between international appropriateness and national interest, answers the questions of what kind of interrelation among them prevailed in the 21st century - cooperation or competition, and how the elements of those two impact the security in the region.

India’s approach to Indo-Pacific is influenced by the geopolitical shift in Asia and realization of the fact that it lacks sufficient resources & capability to address changing security environment engendered by Xi’s idea of reorganizing the security system in Asia. The US led hub-and-spoke system in Asia has been challenged by the phenomenal rise of China. The emergence of India as the potential counter to China has added to the Asian power dynamics calculus. The other countries of the Indo-Pacific face two dyads, US-China, and India-China for the economy, security, and stability.

For India, the leitmotif is to elevate its strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean & South Asia as the major security provider and forge partnership with other players of Indo-Pacific to maintain the rule based international system. Though India’s approach has been criticized by the West, India remains a major actor in Indo-Pacific. and the only potential counter to China in Asia. Facing the continental flashpoint of Indo-Pacific at Himalayas, India strives to navigate between the East-West and North-South divide and projects itself as a leader of Global South and wishes to be Vishwaguru.

The present paper delves into the following questions:

1. What are the main challenges and concerns of India vis-à-vis Indo-Pacific Region?

2. What are the convergences and divergences between India’s approach to Indo-Pacific Security and its major partners?

3. How is India responding to PRC’s playbook in the continental and maritime spheres of the Indo-pacific while striking a balance between the US and China?

The Indo-Pacific region is a strategic area that connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans and involves diverse countries and organizations that have significant interests and influence in the region. The region confronts various security challenges, such as territorial conflicts, maritime insecurity, trade disputes, terrorism, and nuclear threats due to some major actor’s engagement, competition, and rivalry to reshape the security architect, which endanger the regional stability, and prosperity. Over the past few years, China and India are trying to enhance and neutralize their respective power position in this region. China is altering the region’s geo-economic and geo-strategic dynamics in its favour through the “String of Pearls” strategy and the “Belt and Road Initiative.” The paper argues that China undermines India’s traditional dominance as the most influential country in South Asia. To achieve its interest in the Indo-Pacific region, with the higher degree of cultural connectivity to her neighbours of South and South-East Asia as well as west Asia has adopted some counterstrategies and strengthened its partnership with regional organizations. This paper is based on secondary data. This paper explores the role of India in the Indo-Pacific regional security architecture, as an emerging power and civilizational partner of ASEAN. It also further explains that how India can play a positive role in shaping the regional security architecture, to balance China's growing assertiveness and promote by advocating for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific that respects the sovereignty and rights of all countries, and by strengthening its connectivity, trade, and security cooperation with the region.

The Indo-Pacific has become a focal point of evolving geostrategic realities, marked by the escalation of great power competition, amid multiple challenges posed by China. Consequently, the shift in focus from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific has assumed a new rallying point for the key players to articulate their respective strategic postures in the region, as evident with the resurgence of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). Given the growing proximity between the US and India, one of the Indo-Pacific concept's essential underpinnings is India's growing regional stewardship eminence. This paper addresses the question of how India’s participation in the Quad between 2004 and 2024 has reflected its Indo-Pacific strategy amid growing Chinese assertiveness. Grounded in the theoretical framework integrating balance of threat theory and defensive realism, this study offers a comprehensive lens to assess the evolutionary dynamics of India’s foreign policy based on its approach to the Quad and its strategic manoeuvres within the intricate geopolitical environment towards influencing the Indo-Pacific security architecture. Employing a qualitative methodology anchored in critical content analysis and an interpretivist perspective, this study examines key policy documents, official statements, and speeches to elucidate India's involvement in the Quad. The analysis concludes that India's engagement in the Quad has been consistent with its overarching strategy to safeguard regional stability and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific while emphasising multilateral cooperation and strategic partnerships.