NEW DELHI: The Indo-Pacific is increasingly witnessing "new forms of competition and contestation" for influence, leverage and geostrategic space, said Navy chief Admiral KB Singh on Friday, in the backdrop of China’s continuing aggressive behavior towards its neighbours in the region.
"Some states are applying a land-centric approach and territorial mindset to the basic idea of the global commons, attempting to seek greater domination and control," said Admiral Singh, in an address at the United Service Institution of India.
There is an increasing challenge to international rules, regulations and reinterpretation of conventions, which is "turning the global commons into contested seas", he added, without naming China or any other country.
Warships and aircraft from the "Quad" countries of India, the US, Japan and Australia, incidentally, are currently undertaking the Malabar exercise in the Western Pacific, in yet another signal to China to desist from trying to disrupt the rules-based international order, as was earlier reported by TOI.
Stressing that the Indo-Pacific lies at the very center of global engagements and exchanges, Admiral Singh said, "In many ways, we are living amidst a competition continuum, which is changing the rules of the game of global geopolitics. For India, blessed by geography and compelled by imperatives, the Indo-Pacific forms a theatre of opportunity that we must harness to the fullest."
In this endeavour, he added, the Indian Navy remains an important contributor, prioritizing collaborative engagements with "like-minded partners", ensuring maritime domain awareness to tackle any challenge, and managing capability development in a resource-challenged environment.
"Readiness to tackle the ongoing competition continuum, conceptually and in terms of capability, as also breaking silos in the maritime domain, remain crucial priorities," he added.
