| Summary/Abstract |
As an area where the geostrategic frontiers of most major powers intersect, the south-west Pacific Ocean is likely to be the next arena of major geopolitical contestation in the Indo-Pacific Region. Lately, India’s vital interests have also expanded to this sub-region. This has ushered India’s politico-diplomatic engagement with the Pacific Island Developing States (PIDS) under its policy initiatives like “SAGAR.” The policy brief argues that as New Delhi expands its outreach to PIDS in multiple functional domains like climate change, blue economy and connectivity, the Indian Navy must necessarily be involved beyond its occasional warship port calls. The rationale is driven by various factors. The foremost is the fact that navies are valuable instruments of the nation’s foreign policy. Secondly, the PIDS are in dire need for trusted security partners like India. Thirdly, some of India’s critical military-strategic imperatives vis-à- vis China lie in the south-west Pacific area.
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