WORLD NEWS | The geopolitical importance of the Indian Ocean

New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): While the focus remains on the Western Pacific and the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean is a major geopolitical battleground due to direct U.S. and Chinese interests. Several important energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are located in the region. More than 60 percent of the world’s oil shipments, mostly from the Middle East to China, Japan and other Asian economies, pass through the Indian Ocean, as does 70 percent of all container shipments to and from industrialized Asia and the rest of the world, according to Gulf News. In addition to commercial shipping and energy resources, three of the world’s most important chokepoints give the sea enormous strategic importance. The Strait of Malacca is located between Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra, Indonesia, connecting Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific with the Indian Ocean.

The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the wider Indian Ocean, is arguably the most critical choke point because energy comes from the Gulf. Most of the energy resources of China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN pass through these two points.

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The third is the Mandeb Strait, which flows through the Horn of Africa and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Equally important is the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Mozambique, an important trade route for goods shipped via the Cape of Good Hope to Europe, the Americas and Asia.

In recent years, China’s status as the second-largest economy and its need to protect trade and energy supplies has pitted it against the United States and its regional allies (the U.S. Quad, Japan, Australia, and India, and most recently AUKUS, which is Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. acronym).

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Based on its anti-piracy missions near the Horn of Africa, China has emerged as a powerful partner for Indian Ocean islands and littoral states. Gulf News wrote in its opinion piece that under the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s Maritime Silk Road provides an additional platform for cooperation on economic and possibly military issues.

In 2017, China established its first overseas military facility in Djibouti on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Gulf News believes that while France, Japan and the United States already have facilities in Djibouti, the Chinese base has consolidated its position as a new player in the region.

After opening up its economy over the past 40 years, China has become the world’s largest business nation. According to the WTO report, China’s total import and export volume in 2021 will be 6,052.4 billion US dollars. The country is about to become the largest economy in the world.

China’s military modernization to protect its economic interests directly challenges U.S. dominance in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, the United States is reluctant to allow China to dominate the region. This struggle is the central geopolitical issue of the 21st century.

As part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects such as ports, roads and railways in countries along the Indian Ocean. The move aims to strengthen regional connectivity, promote regional economic development, and further facilitate the passage of Chinese goods through the Indian Ocean.

Over the past few years, China has increased its naval presence in the Indian Ocean and developed what some analysts call a “string of pearls,” a network of commercial installations along the Indian Ocean coast.

With the acceleration of the military rhythm in the Indian Ocean, the prediction of Alfred Mahan, a US naval officer known as the most important strategist of the United States in the 19th century, seems to be coming true. He said: “Whoever controls the Indian Ocean controls Asia. This ocean is the key to the seven seas.” (Ani)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)