A 2024 agreement announced the anticipated transfer of ownership of the Chagos Archipelago from the United Kingdom (UK) to the Republic of Mauritius, following long-standing territorial disputes. We reconstructed fisheries catches in the archipelago for 1950-2022 for subsistence and recreational (around 100 t & centerdot;year-1 each), as well as commercial and foreign fishing activities (peaking at approximately 17,000 t & centerdot;year-1 around 2000) including illegal fishing, likely by Sri Lanka and Taiwan after the 2010 UK Marine Protected Area (MPA) declaration. With a future ownership transfer to Mauritius, the potential to re-open fishing or modify the MPA may be pending. Considerations should be given to the global biodiversity values of this area as part of future decisions.
The increasing emphasis on the interplay between geopolitical dynamics and the maritime economy has positioned the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as an emerging strategic theater in the Indo-Pacific Region. The archipelago's resources and other economic and strategic potentialities remain largely unexplored. Given that the Indian Ocean Region is home to major sea lanes of communication, particularly for petroleum, natural gas and other resources, India should consider revitalizing and repositioning the islands from renewed and innovative strategic and economic perspectives. This study argues that such repositioning can both enhance the country's security and supplement its geoeconomic position in the Indian Ocean.
This article examines the dynamics of the ongoing Sino-India rivalry on the basis of arms race theories to explain how India, despite its weaker economic and military power relative to China, continues to maintain a robust position against Chinese aggression. The article argues that India, conscious of its power asymmetry with China, has adopted a policy of actively engaging with the United States and other partners to fill the gap in overall military capability, while maintaining credible force levels that could be scaled up in times of crisis.
The developmental challenges for small island developing states (SIDS) globally are also relevant to the Indian Ocean SIDS: Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles. Here we review the issues of economic vulnerability, state functioning, and climate change. There is also a more detailed assessment of maritime security as an issue that impinges on the ability of the Indian Ocean SIDS to meet their developmental challenges, giving attention to illegal fishing, piracy, and drug trafficking, including the way the SIDS have responded. Having assessed the developmental position of the Indian Ocean SIDS, including the issue of maritime security, the argument turns to how this situation is relevant to geopolitics in the region. The major powers can assist the SIDS to meet their developmental challenges, thus enhancing their own position in the region. However the SIDS also have agency by being proactive in responding to their developmental challenges, including maritime security.
The backbone of the global communication infrastructure, the subsea fibre-optic cables carry over 99 percent of global communication data. As global geopolitical tensions rise, in addition to the increase in China's naval presence, safeguarding these cables, prone to espionage, sabotage, and damage, has become imperative for India in maintaining its defense communications, civilian engagements, economic stability, and digital sovereignty. As India aims to modernize its defense sector, this paper addresses the crucial element of protecting the subsea fiber-optic cables and how it is imperative for the strategic position of the country. It examines the complex interplay between technological advancements and the evolving security doctrine amid the increasing geopolitical competition, especially in the Indo-Pacific.
South Asia is globally the most vulnerable region facing climate change in the form of frequent and intense extreme-weather events and slow-onset climate change that are causing disaster, disease, death and displacement. With the global focus falling on this region, countries are initiating several climate policies to arrest the adverse impacts of climate change, focusing on adaptation, resilience, disaster risk reduction and preparedness, besides policies for environmental protection, energy security, etc. This paper analyses the climate policies of India, Bangladesh and Nepal through the lens of human rights and examines the provisions to handle certain human aspects like internal displacement, international migration, inclusion of gender and disability in relief, resettlement and rehabilitation policies. The enquiry finds that the existing policies as a whole have gaps in ensuring ecological human rights for the vulnerable people, especially women, disabled and the climate migrants. Bangladesh has adopted a relatively more people-friendly approach, with gender and disability being included in the policy objectives. Nepal, too, has included gender in their policy goals, while India has a long way to go regarding social inclusion in climate policies. Regional cooperation among these neighbouring countries may help design appropriate policies to solve similar and cross-border problems.
The Mauritian archipelago has been closely associated with the Indian subcontinent for ages through its cultural, trade, and investment linkages. India is the sixth largest investor in this Small Island Developing State of the Indian Ocean Region. However, the majority of the Indian companies do not have any manufacturing or trading set up in Mauritius; instead, they operate in the form of Global Business Companies formed as tax residents. The study explores the impact of Indian direct investment in Mauritius by qualitatively analyzing twelve companies operating primarily in the services sector. Such investments facilitate the attainment of economic and social prosperity through technology transfer and knowledge spillover, thereby supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Mauritius. Nonetheless, the neglect of the SDGs on climate actions, life below water, and life on land suggest an imbalance as to how investments from India address the environmental aspects of sustainable development.
