| Summary/Abstract |
To quote Sir Julian Corbett, the real point of sea power is not so much what happens at sea, but how that influences the outcome of events on land. The MSR’s essential rationale is the leveraging of Chinese soft-power. The aim apparently is to shore-up China’s image as a benevolent state. Beijing’s would also conceivably use the project’s commercial investments to establish its legitimate interests in the Indian Ocean. And while China can be expected to do everything in its power to force region states to join the project - including offering economic aid to potential partners - the bottom-line for it will be to make an offer to India that is hard to refuse. India’s appreciation of the MSR must be based on an objective appraisal of these new realities.
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