India’s "Indo-pacific Strategy" From The Perspective Of Alliance

The Indo-Pacific region is becoming the next world geostrategic center,and India is one of the most important security forces in the region,with its advantages in terms of geographical location,comprehensive strength,and security mechanisms.Discussions in academic circles and interactions with officials and academics show that the concept of “Indo-Pacific” has not only entered the official discourse level of India,but has gradually turned into a specific foreign policy.This article focuses on sorting out and studying India’s participation in the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” and even its promotion process after the Modi government came to power in 2014,and offers thoughts and suggestions on China’s operations in the Indian Ocean region under the background of “Indo-Pacific”.The first chapter of this article presents a progressive analysis of the connotation and practice of the Indo-Pacific strategy in the context of alliance.The concept of“Indo-Pacific” has risen from academic vocabulary to official political discourse in just over a decade,and has been officially “blessed” by major countries such as the United States,Japan,India,Australia,and developed European countries such as the UK,France and the EU.Secondly,as a result of an interdisciplinary analysis of international relations and international law,the article explains India’s territorial cooperation with the US,Japan and Australia in the areas of defence,security and economy from the perspective of ’alliance’.The development of the QUAD mechanism into an ’alliance’ is marked by the fact that the US,Japan,India and Australia have begun to shape common norms of behaviour and seek to monopolize the rules in the Indo-Pacific region.Under the aegis of the Indo-Pacific Strategy,India and the US,Japan and Australia have established a cooperation framework for "alliance" in the areas of joint military exercises,logistics,key technologies and personnel exchanges,in accordance with the rules and institutional paths set out in the Joint Declarations of the leaders’ summits.The Modi government and the US,Japan and Australia have signed a series of bilateral agreements and accords,like LEMOA,COMCASA,BECA and ACSA,to form a stable framework for defence cooperation and a legally binding security "alliance".Finally,this part also analyses the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" as a whole in terms of international law,with the US-led "Indo-Pacific" rules increasingly being subscribed to by the other three countries.In the process of implementing the Indo-Pacific Strategy,the four countries,led by the US,have used multiple security and economic policy tools to build a legal framework for Indo-Pacific security cooperation.Under this framework,the US,Japan,India and Australia have launched a comprehensive siege against China,making the security game in the Indo-Pacific region increasingly intense.India,at the centre of the maelstrom,has gradually embraced and readily adopted the concept of the Indo-Pacific and even turned it into an all-embracing political,security,economic and technological strategy.The evolution of the Modi government’s Indo-Pacific strategy is the core of this paper and is therefore discussed in greater detail in Chapters 2 and 3.Although India has avoided labelling its’ Indo-Pacific’ policy as a ’strategy’ and no official white paper has been published at the government level,however,judging from various developments such as the setting of the Indo-Pacific diplomatic agenda,the alliance-based cooperation among the four countries and the incipient formation of the Indo-Pacific economic framework,,the Indian version of the Indo-Pacific strategy has taken shape in recent years.The concept of "Indo-Pacific" first made waves in India in 2007,but it was not until the Modi government’s tenure that it gradually became a buzzword in the international relations area.This article first studies the Indian public’s perception of the Indo-Pacific,and then clarifies the official positioning of the Indo-Pacific through the statements of leaders and various documents.Chapters 2 and 3 categorize and examine the different aspects of the Indo-Pacific strategy during the two terms of the Modi government.In the first term of the Modi government’s Indo-Pacific diplomatic practice,India sought to maintain its strategic autonomy under the US-led Indo-Pacific strategy at the geostrategic level and to establish India’s maritime security order in the Indian Ocean region;at the geo-economic level,it sought to deal with ASEAN countries and China and to keep the maritime economy open,thus avoiding as much as possible overt disagreements with China in its multilateral engagement.As the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Sino-Indian border conflict have led to increasingly concentrated signals from the Indian intellectual elite to be assertive towards China and to join forces with the US,Japan and Australia to contain China,the perception of the ’Indo-Pacific’ concept in India has also evolved accordingly.In the second term of the Modi government’s Indo-Pacific diplomatic practice,India’s strategic relations with the three "poles" of the "Indo-Pacific" regional strategic arc-North(Japan),East(US)and South(Australia)-have reached new levels.The four fulcrums of the Indo-Pacific strategy have taken shape.At the same time,the QUAD has developed into a comprehensive cooperating mechanism integrating security,health,climate,critical and emerging technologies,cyberspace,space and infrastructure.In fact,India’s implementation of the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” has two sides.Therefore,Chapters 4 provides a comprehensive explanation of the achievements and challenges of the Modi government’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy”.On the one hand,under the framework of the “Indo-Pacific Strategy”,India,as an “Indo-Pacific Great Power”,will be able to gain strategic support from the US and other Western Countries,which in turn will help India’s rise.Modi government’s hopes to use the name of“Indo-Pacific” to reshape its maritime relations between the east and west sides and become the hub of the Eurasian continent.Although the main stage of India’s“Indo-Pacific strategy” is the QUAD mechanism,its foothold is to shape its own surrounding strategic environment.From the perspective of the “Indo-Pacific”concept,India’s “periphery” can go beyond “close neighbors” to “extended surroundings”.In terms of balancing China,India has formed a high degree of“strategic alignment” with the United States.At present,the confrontation in the western section of the border between China and India is still going on,and India’s logistical support in the Depsang Plains and Demchok is facing severe pressure.India hopes to use the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” to put pressure on China and force China to make concessions on the border confrontation issue.In addition,the Modi government not only hopes to balance regional power through cooperation with the United States,Japan,and Australia,but also demonstrates strong strategic autonomy on diplomatic issues with China,Russia and other major powers.In the two small multilateral relations of “Russia,India and China”(RIC)and “US,Japan,India and Australia(QUAD),India’s “Indo-Pacific Strategy” is full of flexibility and strategy,and strives to maximize its own interests.On the other hand,limited by India’s strategic capabilities and tradition of diplomatic independence,coupled with the checks and balances of geopolitical games,the Indian version of the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” is still in the process of dynamic development.For a long time,“strategic autonomy” has been the most prominent label in India’s diplomatic tradition.Since India implemented the “Indo-Pacific Strategy”,especially the in-depth involvement in the QUAD mechanism,the Modi government has enjoyed diplomatic highlights,but it has also been shackled by the alliance-based discourse.The Indian government clearly recognizes the “dual nature”of the United States as a partner country,and the “immediacy” of bilateral relations is strong.The “Indo-Pacific strategy” is largely driven by Sino-US rivalry,and it benefits India in terms of India-US bilateral defense cooperation and a higher degree of strategic coordination.The relationship between India,the United States,Japan and Australia has not been smooth sailing,and the “disharmony” between them is only temporarily covered by the common strategy of “joining hands to contain China”.If India’s Indo-Pacific strategy remains at the stage of “Unite to Contain China”,it will interfere with its own "India First" national development path.Given the treacherous and volatile international situation and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict,the Indian version of the "Indo-Pacific strategy" may lead to China being constrained on two fronts,and China must pay great attention to such potential risks and respond to them carefully.China,the United States and India are the major forces in the largest maritime region in the world,and the Indo-Pacific defines a new space where national maritime forces converge,representing a duo of competition and cooperation between these three countries.Chapter 5 of this paper begins with an examination of the evolving US-China-India triangle from China’s perspective,followed by strategic reflections on the changing landscape of the Indo-Pacific.The Modi government’s initiative to implement the Indo-Pacific Strategy and engage in QUAD defence cooperation has made it more difficult for China to maintain strategic coordination between its primary and secondary strategic directions,and the possibility of mutual containment has increased.In view of this,while China is facing up to the development trend of the China-US-India triangle,it also needs to adhere to the order based on international law and make good use of the rules of international law to counter the US-led Security Indo-Pacific Network in a justifiable,well-founded and measured manner.More importantly,China and India,as the only two countries in the world with a "billion level" population,are not only neighbours that cannot be removed from each other,but also pillars that speak out on behalf of the South and promote change in the global order.China can adopt a hierarchical response to the logic of the Indo-Pacific strategy,increase the China’s attraction of swaying power,and develop practical cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries based on the "Belt and Road" initiative,and lead the way in shaping a generally good regional security environment.