The Indian ocean has gradually emerged as a pivotal region in the economic and geopolitical configurations of the world powers. The geostrategic significance of the region and its increasing relevance to the competitive globalism of the great powers are primarily the result of the central dynamics of contemporary power politics, which in a multipolar context have introduced a complex pattern of conflict and competition on economic, political and strategic issues.1 It is not only the modern military technology that has transformed the world into a single strategic theatre, or has integrated all the important areas of the world into the central defence planning of the great powers, but also the regional geopolitical characteristics, balance of power arrangements and perceptions of vital interests have largely determined the nature of extra-regional participation in the various strategic subsystems of the world.
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The Bay of Bengal (BoB) is historically contested area among the major Asian and European powers due to a wide variety of geopolitical reasons. Within the broader IOR, the BoB remains the key portal for enhanced bilateral and multilateral engagements. The recent policy initiatives of China, India, USA, Australia and Japan in the IOR and the Bay region specifically indicated growing strategic rivalries. This has serious ramifications for the security and development potentials for Bangladesh. The great powers will try to suggest policy inputs for Bangladesh, the latter may not only will face pressures with regard to policy independence but also be constrained and might succumb possibly to these pressures. Due to the burgeoning rivalry among the great powers, Bangladesh will encounter difficulties in policy independence. Thus, Bangladesh's preferred policy posture to tackle the great power rivalry should be and in fact has been an independent, non-aligned one. After 50 years of its independence, some domestic sources are seen to highlight Bangladesh's weakness, some analysts have underscored Bangladesh's strengths in courting major great powers. This article shows what challenges are it facing, how it has responded so far, and some recommendations about what it shall continue to carry its legacy of strategic hedging in the coming decades to address the great power rivalry in the Bay.
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pISSN: 2521-2982 The Indian Ocean is important due to its strategic location, geopolitical significance and trade activities being performed through it. The United States of America is attaining energy, and other resources have a deep interest in the region. China, through its “string of pearls strategy”, is encountering the American goals in the regional by the promotion of its economic activities, securing its dominance in the region, thus posing a constant challenge to the later as well as a regional power i.e. India. Contending interests of regional and international powers in the Indian Ocean Region has led to power projection, affected the security environment, fuelling the issues. The necessity to preserve the available energy resources for survival and to meet future needs is attracting great powers to the Indian Ocean Region. The close alliance between the US and India and dwindling relations between the US and Pakistan are leading towards close ties between Pakistan and Ch.
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While piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean are current issues, so-called Great Power rivalry is not yet an immediate security threat in the region. However, the potential effects of Great Power rivalry are more fundamental and reach further than acts of terrorism or piracy. In terms of this rivalry, two major issues stand out. The first is increasing maritime rivalry between India and China. The second major instance of potential Great Power rivalry in the Indian Ocean relates to the risk of spillover effects from maritime tensions in the western Pacific Ocean, including the East and South China Seas.
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International Journal of Geography, Geoinformatics &Geographic Information Science
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South Asia since antiquity had mainly been associated with land based power, first the Arab and then European traders in a quest to seek more fortunes and trading opportunity exploited the major sea-lanes to access the sub continent. The area subsequently became the center for colonial exploits, which made this otherwise less exploited link to the outside world, as one of the most important trading and strategic routes for the colonial as well as postcolonial powers. In the post-colonial time, when the controls of these vital sea-lanes came into the hands of successor states, owing to their cash striped, nascent decolonized status, the South Asian countries could not fully exploit the potential of this vast reserve. However, the realization about the power and prestige that came from the domination of maritime reserves was greatly felt. India, considering itself as the natural heir to the departing British colonizers, continued with the naval legacy, and declared the entire of the Indian Ocean littoral from the Straits of Malacca to the Horn of Africa as its " Great Lake. " Not only, taking a keen interest in the postwar great powers' quest for seeking vital trade and strategic sea routes, but has also been suspicious and resentful of the growing US presence in the Indian Ocean littoral during the Cold War period and after. In its quest to seek a great power status, India has been trying to establish itself as a blue water navy. The questions that arise are; what would be the effect of this regional and extra-regional quest for hegemony and supremacy on the regional states as a whole? As we know that in this Indo-centric region, both Pakistan as well as Bangladesh has long-standing maritime disputes with India, the next question sought is that are these problems entirely intractable to solve or require political will and wisdom for their solution. With Sir Creek
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The evolving international order and changing security dynamics have pushed both regional and extra-regional powers into more of a complex security framework. The security dilemma of the existing international world order can be stated in terms of anarchy. It is the existence of anarchy due to which states pursue self-interest which ultimately sets the stage for power play. The same scenario seems to have arisen in the IOR. The rising economic and geopolitical significance of the Indian Ocean by featuring the strategic moves of India, China, and the US; as well as the impact of these moves on the security of the overall region demand attention. This needs to be analysed with regards to the impact of three contentions i.e. the India-Pakistan security dyad, the competitive economic rivalry between China and India, and the third contention in terms of China and the US. Furthermore, the end result of power play in the Indian Ocean can be studied under two dimensions i.e. break up of conflict or strategic competition between the regional players and in the context of the states whose interests are at stake by the shift of power balance in the region.
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