A Study On The Rise Of Indo-Pacific Strategy And Its Impact On Myanmar

Dynamic changes in regional affairs have fostered states to establish regional institutions since the 20th century.At first,the idea of Asia-Pacific was introduced to fix the regional order.Later on,the parallel rise of China and India had formulated the initial idea to expand into the Indo-Pacific concept.States in the international community,especially the US,Japan,Australia and India acknowledged the necessity to counter the growing influence and dominance of China not only in the region but also at the international level.Therefore,the so-called Quad states began to take so far rhetoric measures and policies to implement the Indo-Pacific concept in the 21st century.However,the concept had not yet been affirmed in terms of its clarity on several areas;the decision-working structure,form,goal,implementation process,leadership,membership and structure of the Indo-Pacific strategy.Until today,these states can only assure their ambition to produce free,open,secured,balanced and stable trade environment in the Indo-Pacific region.This research has found out that the concept of Indo-Pacific is brought up by the Quad states to ensure their strategic interests.The US has been trying to apply its containment strategy to the rising China which has constantly contested its global power status and stretched its influence across the regions.Like the US,India is also aware of the one-sided dominance of China in the region.Therefore,unlike before,India is prospected to respond to the rising which has the potential to override the power of India.As for Japan,the country withholds similar positions to that of India.But Japan tends to emphasize more over the maritime security of the seas;the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.Lastly,for Australia,it could be regarded as the state which views the concept of Indo-Pacific in a positive manner among the others.On the other outset,ASEAN has a certain level of importance in the Indo-Pacific concept.The main concern of this regional institution under this concept is its centrality and the critical effort of the ASEAN will be to promote a rule-based regional order whereas rivalry amid the super powers could be contended at the same time.Besides all these state actors,this paper has studied the role of Myanmar,the possible impacts of the concept on Myanmar and the country's potential to deal with the Indo-Pacific strategy.It is apparent that Myanmar in terms of its geo-strategic location set between China and India has the potential to trigger interdependent relations for the country with the super powers.