Chinese foray into the Indian Ocean

This section of the Belt and Road Initiative challenges India’s presumed traditional hold and influence.

A plethora of literature has emerged in China on the centrality of the Indian Ocean in its regional cooperation projects in South and Southeast Asia. They all converge to highlight China as a pivot in paving the way further to the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. For China, these coveted sea lines of communication will largely deflect both geopolitically crowded East Asia and exposures to military exercises and security pressures like in the South China Sea.