Indo-Pacific: Oceans Together, Oceans Apart

• Florence School of Transnational Governance

In this talk, Policy Leader Fellow Apurv Kumar Mishra and Professor Harsh Pant (Director of Delhi School of Transnational Affairs at Delhi University) discuss the new strategic construct of the Indo-Pacific region.

In international relations, acceptance of a new strategic term is an acknowledgement of changed facts on the ground. The term 'Indo-Pacific' is a recent addition to the global strategic lexicon as a concept to understand the interconnected maritime space of Indian and Pacific Oceans.

While new as a strategic construct, Indo-Pacific had been the economic and cultural reality of nations in this vast geography for several centuries, until the post-1945 global order created a temporary and artificial schism in a relatively organic region.

What are the trend lines that are reinventing the Indo-Pacific today? As a manifestation of a rebalancing world, with weaker rules and stronger multipolarity, that is grappling with major power competition; one may argue that the Indo-Pacific is the "Great Game" of the 21st century. If so, who are the players, what are their ambitions and which strategies are they employing to win?

Speakers: 

• Apurv Kumar Mishra, Policy Leader Fellow
• Professor Harsh Pant, Professor of International Relations at King's College London and Director of Delhi School of Transnational Affairs at Delhi University