The Indo-Pacific, often regarded as the ‘maritime underbelly’ of Asia, has emerged as the world’s economic “centre of gravity”. The home of vast geo-economic opportunities, and facing manifold security challenges at the same time, this maritime domain has attracted the keen attention of global powers in recent years. This births prospects for multilateral collaborations in maritime security, and justifies the significance of a ‘free and open’ ocean realm. This report builds on the insights shared during the India-Japan-France workshop on the Indo-Pacific held on a virtual platform in January 2021. The discussions explored the prospects in the partnership between the three countries which, despite their disparate geographical identities, have analogous interests in the Indo-Pacific. Attribution: Sohini Nayak, “Maritime Opportunities Await the India-Japan-France Trilateral Partnership,” ORF Special Report No. 133, March 2021, Observer Research Foundation. Introduction China’s growing economic and strategic footprint has caused anxiety in the Indo-Pacific region. [3] The Chinese Navy, apart from creating friendly relations with the littoral states using maritime diplomacy, is a frequent guest at the ports of Karachi, Colombo and many Southeast Asian countries. It conducts exercises beyond its traditional sphere of influence, indicating a clear intent on China’s part to become a major player in this region. Its expanding naval fleet and its pursuit of new naval technologies demonstrate China’s aims to exert influence in these spaces. [4] As its base in Djibouti is utilised to host aircraft carriers, places like Gwadar, Hambantota and Maldives have also started functioning dually for both commercial and military purposes. [5] Addressing the China challenge—including the concomitant, non-traditional security issues—calls on stakeholders to move from expression of interest to active conversation. For India, Japan and France, who aim to work together in the region, this necessitates clarifying capacities and commitment in four areas of cooperation: (1) leveraging logistics agreements between the three, and more involvement between their navies; (2) all three collaborating in the setting up of underwater sensors in the Andaman Islands, which can help create a better understanding of the maritime domain; (3) cooperation on defence technology; and (4) acknowledging each other’s limitations, especially on the issue of China. [6]
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