A Study Of India’s Ocean Policy After The Cold War

It’s suitable for India to look for development on the ocean because of its advantageous geographical location. Ancient India had owned a great sea power, however, it was invaded by western countries, became a British colony and lost its sea power in recent history. In the colonial era, India was deeply imbued with the British ocean strategy and constructed the navy in modern sense. Post-independence India began to implement its ocean policy, in addition, Indian navy developed rapidly, and its maritime interests had also expanded. Indian sea power, throughout history, has experienced an orbit of success, decline and renaissance.Since the end of the cold war, Indian maritime interests and influence have been stretched to south, east and west, being drawn support from the relatively favorable international environment and India’s own comprehensive national power which has been enhanced greatly, and then India’s ocean policy has been established finally. Heading south to the Indian Ocean is still the main point of its ocean policy. India has been striving to maintain its pre-eminence in the northern Indian Ocean, strengthen the maritime co-operation with other countries around this ocean and further expand its maritime interests to the southern Indian Ocean. Heading east to the Asia-Pacific waters is a new content of India’s ocean policy after the cold war. A series of navy co-operations and marine energy collaborations between India and some Asia-Pacific countries have been conducted, and India’s outposts of coastal defense have been advanced eastward. Then, India has involved in the South China Sea issue, expanded its maritime interests in the Asia-Pacific waters and increased its impact in this area. Besides, the coverage of India’s ocean policy has extended westward to the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. India is also growing its naval power depending on Russia’s help and itself, and expanding its maritime interests peacefully in the framework of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).India’s ocean policy is the result of a train of international causes and domestic reasons, and its targets are developing on the ocean, deterring the major countries outside the region, and supporting India’s Great Power strategy. India’s ocean policy after the cold war was created by the international system, the South Asia and Asia-Pacific regional situation, and India’s domestic situation, which has profoundly affected the international order in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. However, India is not fit enough to achieve the goals of the India’s ocean policy. On the one hand, India’s ocean policy is influenced by India’s land defense in its northern border, as well as some other factors such as India’s party politics, decision-making progress and strategic culture in the short term. On the other hand, the US and China have also restricted the implementation of India’s ocean policy. So, the implementation won’t be smooth for India. For the future, India’s ocean policy will further expand to the southern Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific waters, and India knows that it should make full use of the international contradictions and get the ocean policy through peacefully.