The Indian Ocean has long been the hub of great power rivalry, and the struggle for its domination has been a perennial feature of global politics. It is third largest of the world’s five oceans and straddles Asia in the north, Africa in the west, Indo-China in the east and Antarctica in the south. Home to four critical access waterways—the Suez Canal and the Bab-el Mandeb, Hormuz and Malacca straits—the Indian Ocean connects the Middle East, Africa and East Asia with Europe and the Americas.⁽¹⁾ Given its crucial geographical role, major powers have long vied with each other for its control, though it was only in the nineteenth century that Britain was able to enjoy overwhelming dominance in the region. With the decline in Britain’s relative power and the emergence of two superpowers during the Cold War, the Indian Ocean region (IOR) became another arena where the United States and the former Soviet Union struggled to expand their power and influence. The United States, however, has continued to remain the most significant player in the region for the last several years.

Given the rise of major economic powers in the Asia-Pacific that rely on energy imports to sustain their economic growth, the IOR has assumed a new importance as various powers are once again vying for control of the waves in this part of the world. It has been rightly observed that ‘the Indian Ocean would be the world’s single most important region in the next 20 years because of the dependence on oil as the primary energy source, the competitive pressures arising from the economic growth of many countries along its rim, and the traditional rivalries that have built volatile relations.’⁽²⁾ Nearly half of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the Indian Ocean, and approximately 20 per cent of this trade consists of energy resources. It has also been estimated that around 40 per cent of the world’s offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean, and that 65 per cent of world’s oil and 35 per cent of its gas reserves are found in the littoral states of this ocean.⁽³⁾ The persistent instability in the Middle East has increased concerns about the security of the regional Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) and the rise of Islamist terrorism in the littoral nations has further aggravated global concerns about energy security.

Unlike the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, almost three-quarters of trade traversing through the Indian Ocean, primarily in the form of oil and gas, is between states external to the region. Free and uninterrupted flow of oil and goods through the ocean’s SLOCs is deemed vital for the global economy, and so all major states have a stake in a stable IOR. It is for this reason that during the Cold War years, when US-Soviet rivalry was at its height, the states bordering the Indian Ocean had sought to declare the region a ‘zone of peace’ to allow for free trade and commerce across the lanes of the Indian Ocean. Today, the reliance is on the United States for the provision of a ‘collective good’: a stable IOR.