CONCEPT – INDO-PACIFIC

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CONCEPT – INDO-PACIFIC

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• What is the Indo-Pacific? It was originally a geographic concept, used to refer the two regions of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. But over time, with the emergence of major powers in the region, it became a strategic concept. First came Asia Pacific,  which shaped the image of a community of interests linking the United States and East Asia. Then came Indo-Pacific , as used by Trump which refers to an approach in which India, the United States, and other major Asian democracies (Japan and Australia), will join hands.
• Why joing hands? Apparently, the reason is to curb China in the new framework of growing "Cold War" influence. The Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quad concept have repeatedly been used. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe held talks with Indian Prime Minister Modi and promoted the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" several times. Trump’s visit to Japan formally mentioned the “Indo-Pacific Strategy”.
• What does China believe? China's rise is the main reason Washington is devoting efforts to boost Indo-Pacific alliances, and the Indo-Pacific strategy is intended to hedge against China’s behaviour. But, it is possible that Trump's Indo-Pacific strategy is an update of Obama's ‘rebalance’.
• The United States is the leader: It is the leader of the Indo-Pacific Strategy. Through its economic rise in recent years  India has become a leader among emerging economies. On the other hand, after the retreat of Obama's Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, the Asia-Pacific power structure involved corresponding adjustments.
• TPP: Trump had campaigned against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and finally withdrew the US from the deal in January 2017. Although Washington's omission may not kill the TPP as the remaining 11 countries said they will try to salvage it, it did leave China as the region's rulemaker! That rattles America.
• RCEP: Beijing has already been negotiating a 10-country free trade deal known as the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" (RCEP) without the US.  That further cements its position in the region.
• China and the South China Sea: Washington's gripe with Beijing is also about the China behaviour in its neighborhood of SCS, where it is ignoring the territorial claims of its neighbors and building makeshift islands and setting up no-fly zones throughout the area. Some of China's claims have been challenged in international courts, but Beijing has ignored every ruling that hasn't gone in its favor.
• Nuclear weapons: The US has traditionally opposed the spread of nuclear weapons. The Indo-Pacific region is home to four countries with nuclear weapons — China, India, Pakistan and North Korea — and Washington only accepts the right of one to have them: China. The US approves of China's weapons because the international treaty on nuclear weapons — the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — gives Beijing the right to develop and own them. But the NPT does not share that right with India, Pakistan and North Korea.
• US Military in the Indo-Pacific: The US military has renamed its Pacific Command to the US Indo-Pacific Command in a largely symbolic move signalling India's growing importance to the Pentagon. The Pacific Command has 3,75,000 civilian and military personnel monitoring the greater Pacific region, including India. The name change comes amid tensions with China, which has been expanding its military activity in the region.

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