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India’s Ambitions in the Indian Ocean Region
Over the last two decades, China has significantly enhanced its presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Beijing’s expanding diplomatic, economic, and military engagements have generated considerable anxiety about China’s increasing ambitions in the region. Beijing recently hosted a China-Indian Ocean Region…
Maldives’ Chagos Conundrum: Continuing Inconsistency and its Politicization
On October 17, 2022, the International Tribunal For the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) began hearing the dispute over the overlapping Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) between Mauritius and the Maldives. During the proceedings, the Maldives revealed its new position of recognizing Mauritius’ sovereignty…
Western Indian Ocean: The Missing Piece in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy
In a long-delayed move, the White House announced its intent to integrate African states into Indo-Pacific forums, according to its latest strategy document for Sub-Saharan Africa from August 2022. The Biden administration’s expansion of the geographic definition of the Indo-Pacific…
Chagos Islands and the Struggle for Global Britain
An estimated 119 Tamils are currently in detention on a secretive British military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago, situated northeast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Of those, 89 have been there since late…
The UK-India Partnership and Britain’s Indo-Pacific Tilt
In March 2021, the UK Government published the Integrated Review (IR) of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, a landmark policy document defining Britain’s international role in the aftermath of the UK’s departure from the European Union. This is the…
India’s Strategic Challenges and Prospects for CBMs in South Asia
Over the past four decades, Asia has been a hotbed of geopolitical challenges including—although by no means limited to—localized wars for influence, the use of terrorism as a state policy, shifting nuclear force postures, extremist militant groups, and the rise…