China’s Indian Ocean Strategy and Its Implications for India’s Maritime Security

Man Norbu

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.69021

China’s Indian Ocean Strategy and Its Implications for India’s Maritime Security

Author(s)	Dr. Man Norbu
Country	India
Abstract	The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become a principal arena of strategic competition in the 21st century, shaped by China’s expanding geopolitical reach and India’s security priorities as a resident maritime power. China’s Indian Ocean strategy characterized by port infrastructure development, enhanced naval presence, and graded strategic partnerships aims to protect Beijing’s sea trade routes and extend influence. This study critically examines the strategic objectives of China’s Indian Ocean policy, including the so called String of Pearls and Maritime Silk Road initiatives, and evaluates their implications for India’s maritime security. It highlights the challenge to India’s freedom of maneuver, potential threats to its sea lines of communication (SLOCs), and the emerging security dilemma between the two powers. The article also assesses India’s strategic responses, including naval modernization, maritime domain awareness enhancements, and regional security cooperation. Through this analytical framework, it argues that India must synergize power projection, multilateral engagement, and defense diplomacy to uphold stability in the Indian Ocean.
Keywords	China’s Indian Ocean Strategy; Maritime Security; India–China Strategic Competition; Indian Ocean Region (IOR); Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs); String of Pearls; Naval Modernization; Regional Security Cooperation; Power Projection; Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 5, September-October 2025
Published On	2025-09-10
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i05.69021

View / Download PDF File

E-ISSN 2582-2160

doi

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads

Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2 Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1 Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

China’s Indian Ocean Strategy and Its Implications for India’s Maritime Security

Share this