In a significant move, India will hold a maritime dialogue with China and Russia soon to explain its new Indo-Pacific policy. “We will have maritime dialogues with China and Russia in the coming months. Our effort is to work out in some more detail and to see how we can get coherence in the Indo-Pacific community about the Indo-Pacific as a concept”, said sources.
According to reports, the maritime dialogue is being initiated as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a broader vision for the Indo-Pacific at the Shangri La dialogue in Singapore last month.
“India does not see the Indo-Pacific region as a strategy or as a club of limited members. Nor as a grouping that seeks to dominate. And by no means do we consider it as directed against any country,” Prime Minister Modi said.
“It is normal to have partnerships on the basis of shared values and interests. India, too, has many in the region and beyond. We will work with them, individually or in formats of three or more, for a stable and peaceful region. But our friendships are not alliances of containment,” Modi added.
The move is significant as India is part of the powerful “Quadrilateral” (India, Australia, Japan and US) coalition which was given shape in November 2017 in order to free the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific from Chinese influence.
