
The Indo-Pacific in Indian foreign policy
Think tank: RUSI
Author(s): Dr Walter Ladwig III
May 1, 2024
This report from UK think tank RUSI examines the Indo-Pacific in Indian foreign policy.
This Policy Brief examines India’s initial caution in embracing the role of the Indo-Pacific in India’s strategic outlook, the changing geopolitical circumstances that led New Delhi to adopt a more proactive approach, and how India’s Indo-Pacific strategy is impacting relationships with countries in the region, and the UK.
The evolution of the phrase ‘Indo-Pacific’ from a term of art in marine biology to a region of contemporary strategic interest has been a key geopolitical development in the past 15 years.
Although the desire to draw India into the security architecture of the Asia-Pacific was a key motivation for countries such as the US and Japan to embrace the formulation, New Delhi was initially more cautious.