India’s Strategic Traditions and Options in the Indo-Pacific Security System

Resumo

As the Asia-Pacific security complex expands and morphs into a larger Indo-Pacific system, India will need to adapt and redefine its strategy. This article sets out the new challenges India faces in this new Asia, and then proceeds to review the great Indian debate about its strategic culture and perennial quest for autonomy. It evaluates four possible strategic postures for India to choose from: further rapprochement with the United States to balance China; initiating a pan-Asian security framework to contain China; joint establishment with China of an “Asian G-2” or “Panchsheel 2.0” security regime that excludes the United States; and an isolationist, introvert focus on domestic “soft balancing” by avoiding entanglement in security and competitive power politics.