Page 59 - K M PANNIKAR and The Growth of a Maritime Consciousness in India

INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY AND INDIA’S OPPORTUNITIES
AND CHALLENGES FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC
COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION
The paper intends to analyze the connotations of the Indo-Pacific and the
Indo-Pacific Strategy from the perspectives of major powers and India’s
interests in the Indo-Pacific region vis-à-vis India’s Look East Policy to Act
East Policy along with India’s approach to the Indo-Pacific, exploring the
challenges and opportunities for India in the larger geopolitical context of
the Indo-Pacific and India’s responses to such developments. For India, the
multi-dimensional regional cooperation in the Indo-Pacific would promote
economic relations, improve regional capacity and develop regional capability
to deal with complex security challenges in the region. Therefore, robust
maritime connectivity is essential for a more common and mutually-reinforcing
market-driven economic structure and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
Robust performance of maritime services can reduce transportation costs
and boost trade and investment in the regional economies. In this context,
India’s Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) could be a robust
step to strengthen maritime connectivity. There is need to address the
multifaceted maritime-security threats and challenges for shared prosperity
in the Indo-Pacific countries using collective approaches to focus on technical
cooperation, capacity building, and sharing of knowledge and expertise.
Regional economic and trade integration can facilitate global trade and build
necessary infrastructure, for which role of the bigger economies in the Indo-
Pacific region is not over-emphasized. In this context, role of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would be a major driving force for speeding
up cooperation within the Indo-Pacific.

23-24 March 2021 | Sapru House, New Delhi 59