India's Ocean The Story of India's Bid for Regional Leadership

This book assesses India’s role as a major power in the Indian Ocean. Many see the Indian Ocean as naturally falling within India’s sphere of influence but, as this book demonstrates, India has a long way to go before it could achieve regional dominance. The book outlines the development of Indian thinking on its role in the Indian Ocean and examines India’s strategic relationships in the region, including with maritime South Asia, the Indian Ocean islands, East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. The book then discusses India’s ambivalent relationship with the United States and explores its attitude towards China’s growing power in the Indian Ocean. It concludes by discussing the region’s evolving strategic order – does India have what it takes to become the leading power in the region?

1. The Indian Ocean as a strategic entity 2. The evolution of Indian strategic thinking about the Indian Ocean 3. Strategic competition with China in the IOR 4. Strategic competition and cooperation with the United States in the IOR 5. India’s special role in the Southwest Indian Ocean 6. India’s opportunities in East Africa and the Northwest Indian Ocean 7. India in the Northeast Indian Ocean 8. India and Australia in the Indian Ocean 9. India as an Indian Ocean power

David Brewster, a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer, is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and has written extensively on India's international relations.