Maritime Cooperation in Indo-Pacific Region: An Indian perspective

Abstract

The maritime region, because of the importance of maritime transport, has been a major determinant of human development since very initial time. After the development of advanced means of maritime transport and the discovery of new areas, maritime region have played a major role in determining the direction of global politics. Looking from the historical point of view, we find that global events like trade alliances between different countries and the success of colonial rule have been successful only because of the research work done in the maritime region. The Atlantic Ocean was of great importance during the colonial period due to the trade of goods and slaves between African and American countries. Similarly, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea remained the main axis of global diplomacy in the 19th and 20th centuries due to the discovery of energy resources such as petroleum. In the current 21st century, the Indo-Pacific region has emerged as a major center of global activities due to the sheer magnitude of economic activity. China, USA, Japan Australia and European powers are finding their interests in this area