India’s Approach to the Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific region is home to nearly three billion people, with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost $20 trillion. Globalization, and the consequent compression of geographic spaces, had led some scholars to use the term 'Indo-Pacific' to capture contemporary realities. The Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has infused new energy into India's engagement with the Asia-Pacific region. India's approach necessarily respects the diversity of the region and focuses on evolving an open, inclusive and transparent regional architecture, co-terminus with the East Asia Summit footprint. To conclude, the Indian and the Pacific oceans are the common heritage of a huge chunk of humanity, who aspire to a better life. It is our challenge as practitioners and analysts of statecraft and state behaviour to devise rules of engagement and imagine new cooperative pathways to ensure that the aspirations of this vast proportion of humanity for a better, peaceful, prosperous, stable and sustainable future are met.