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The statement offers New Delhi an accidental to collaborate with Mauritius connected maritime security, enabling Indian beingness successful the Western Indian Ocean. (File Photo)
The UK’s determination to transportation sovereignty of the strategically important Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius marks a watershed infinitesimal successful planetary relations and maritime geopolitics. This long-standing issue, erstwhile deemed unresolvable, had simmered for decades until London, successful a pragmatic move, settled it earlier this week to the evident restitution of cardinal stakeholders portion securing its ain strategical interests. The transportation not lone addresses the assemblage legacies of the past but besides reshapes powerfulness dynamics successful the Indian Ocean, with important implications for maritime strategy and determination security.
In galore ways, this result was inevitable, fixed the mounting unit connected the UK from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN General Assembly, and respective determination states, including India, which has consistently backed Mauritius’ claim. India, successful particular, has been a vocal advocator for the decolonisation agenda, reinforcing the Mauritian origin and asserting its enactment relation successful the Global South. With its diplomatic stance nether expanding scrutiny, the UK apt saw this handover arsenic a indispensable determination to align with the planetary statement successful favour of Port Louis.
Strategically, the woody holds important value for each stakeholders. While it grants Mauritius afloat sovereignty implicit the Chagos Islands, it ensures US-UK power of the subject basal astatine Diego Garcia for the adjacent ninety-nine years. For India, the main information supplier successful the Eastern Indian Ocean, the implications widen acold beyond imaginable entree to Diego Garcia’s subject facilities, touching connected broader themes of strategical autonomy, determination alliances, and the evolving equilibrium of powerfulness successful the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Given India’s adjacent subject ties with the US and UK, Diego Garcia could supply the Indian Navy with a invaluable guardant basal for maritime patrolling, anti-piracy operations, and quality gathering. With expanding Chinese naval enactment successful the IOR, peculiarly successful the Western Indian Ocean, India could leverage person logistical and subject practice with the US to counterbalance China’s maritime expansion.
Yet, determination are deeper nuances to consider. While enhanced entree to Diego Garcia offers tactical advantages, India’s proximity to the US military’s premier Indian Ocean installation could complicate its broader strategical calculus. Diego Garcia is not conscionable immoderate American base; it is simply a hub for US atomic submarines (albeit for logistics and resupply purposes) and a cardinal staging crushed for US naval operations successful the Western Indian Ocean — a theatre wherever India-US practice has traditionally been constrained. Using this installation raises larger questions astir India’s strategical autonomy, particularly arsenic the Indian Ocean becomes much contested amid rising tensions successful the Red Sea and the escalating Iran-Israel conflict.
India has agelong adhered to a argumentation of strategical autonomy, cautiously balancing relationships with planetary powers to support independency successful its overseas policy. Deeper subject practice with the US done enhanced entree to Diego Garcia could beryllium seen arsenic a displacement toward alignment with Western powers, perchance undermining India’s efforts to stay an autarkic subordinate susceptible of engaging with a divers scope of partners, including non-Western actors similar Russia, Iran, and different Middle Eastern powers. While Diego Garcia is pivotal to US operations successful the Middle East, India knows increasing tensions betwixt Israel and Iran — an important economical and strategical spouse for India — complicate its options. While India leans much toward Tel Aviv, overt practice with the US, Israel’s main state against Iran, could strain India’s ties with Tehran and different non-Western partners.
To beryllium sure, Chagos’ handover to Mauritius is precisely the result India had agelong hoped for. New Delhi adjacent played a behind-the-scenes relation to promote some sides to scope specified an agreement. But portion it sees the continuation of the Diego Garcia basal nether US power arsenic a affirmative — fixed adjacent subject ties with Washington — New Delhi is apt to temper its responses to task a balanced stance, avoiding the cognition of excessive alignment with the US-UK axis.
Even so, India’s strategical assemblage volition apt presumption this improvement done the lens of China’s increasing beingness successful the Indian Ocean. With a naval basal successful Djibouti and apt aboriginal bases successful Pakistan, China is positioning itself arsenic a important Indian Ocean power. Despite having to negociate the expectations of different determination states — galore of whom person adjacent ties with China — India’s main imperative volition beryllium to counterbalance Beijing’s power successful the Western Indian Ocean.
India is besides mindful of Mauritius’ information needs. Port Louis volition apt question New Delhi’s assistance successful capacity-building, peculiarly successful monitoring its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and safeguarding its maritime assets from amerciable sportfishing and different threats. Given its ain concerns implicit Chinese intrusions, India has a vested involvement successful strengthening Mauritius’ information capabilities. China’s illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) sportfishing has been a important contented successful the Western Indian Ocean, and enhancing Mauritian capableness helps mitigate this menace without requiring nonstop Indian intervention.
There are larger geopolitical calculations. The statement offers New Delhi an accidental to collaborate with Mauritius connected maritime security, enabling Indian beingness successful the Western Indian Ocean. This could service arsenic a counterweight to China’s expanding influence. The cardinal for India would beryllium to support its interests without appearing excessively adjacent to the Western governmental docket successful the Middle East, maintaining its representation arsenic an autarkic determination power.
The writer is Head of the Maritime Policy Initiative astatine ORF, New Delhi
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