Projects
Indian Ocean Initiative
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About the Project

The Indian Ocean, home to a fifth of the water on earth’s surface, has long been a crossroads for merchants, mariners, and navies. The Indian Ocean is critical to the geopolitical and economic fortunes of its littoral states and outside powers. As they have for centuries, container, passenger, and naval vessels squeeze through its narrow straits and sail into its deep waters, plying busy trade routes that span the globe from Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

Today, securing value and supply chains has become a priority for states small and large. As a space where the world’s great powers intersect, the Indian Ocean is one of the most valuable trade and geopolitical regions of the world with over 80% of the world’s oil passes through the Indian Ocean’s waters. It is not only a fulcrum of strategic competition between nations but also of an array of valuable economic and development opportunities. Yet there are few dedicated Indian Ocean programs anywhere in the world. The Carnegie Asia Program’s Indian Ocean Initiative serves as as a hub for research and scholarship related to the Indian Ocean and its island states and territories. 

Fellow Darshana Baruah directs the Indian Ocean Initiative, drawing on her own innovative research and writing on maritime security and the importance of island nations, as well as New Delhi’s strategy toward the Indian Ocean. The Initiative draws together the work of other leading Carnegie scholars who have advanced the study of the Indo-Pacific, its security architecture, and the development of connectivity across this huge tract of ocean.

Programs

Our team

Darshana M. Baruah

Nonresident Scholar, South Asia Program

Darshana M. Baruah is a nonresident scholar with the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she directs the Indian Ocean Initiative.

Ashley J. Tellis

Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs

Ashley J. Tellis is the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Vijay Gokhale

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Carnegie India

Vijay Gokhale is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India and the former foreign secretary of India. He has worked extensively on matters relating to the Indo-Pacific region with a special emphasis on Chinese politics and diplomacy.

Rudra Chaudhuri

Director, Carnegie India

Rudra Chaudhuri is the director of Carnegie India. His research focuses on the diplomatic history of South Asia, contemporary security issues, and the important role of emerging technologies and digital public infrastructure in diplomacy, statecraft, and development. He and his team at Carnegie India chair and convene the Global Technology Summit, co-hosted with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Milan Vaishnav

Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program

Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program and the host of the Grand Tamasha podcast at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, distributive politics, and electoral behavior. He also conducts research on the Indian diaspora.

Satyendra Prasad

Nonresident Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics Program

Dr. Satyendra Prasad is a nonresident senior fellow in the South Asia and Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Srinath Raghavan

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Security Studies Program

Srinath Raghavan is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India. His primary research focus is on the contemporary and historical aspects of India’s foreign and security policies.

Evan A. Feigenbaum

Vice President for Studies, Acting Director, Carnegie China

Evan A. Feigenbaum is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees its work in Washington, Beijing, New Delhi, and Singapore on a dynamic region encompassing both East Asia and South Asia. He served twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and advised two Secretaries of State and a former Treasury Secretary on Asia.

Interactive Map

Interactive Map

The Indian Ocean Strategic Map displays the economic, political, military, and geographic features of the Indian Ocean and how they interact as one continuous theater. Highlighting the region’s maritime prominence and geopolitical importance, the Indian Ocean Strategic Map displays the unique perspectives, trade relationships, and multilateral bodies that dominate regional geopolitics.

View the Interactive Map
Event Series

Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series

The annual Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series convenes governmental and non-governmental actors to exchange experiences and display the strategic, economic, and diplomatic dynamics between island states and outside partners.

Learn more
Event Series

Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series

The annual Indo-Pacific Island Dialogue Series convenes governmental and non-governmental actors to exchange experiences and display the strategic, economic, and diplomatic dynamics between island states and outside partners.

Learn more

All work from Indian Ocean Initiative

43 Results
event
Japan in the Indian Ocean: Toward a Stronger Indo-Pacific Strategy
September 27, 2024

A discussion about Japan's evolving role in the Indian Ocean.

event
Does the Indian Ocean Really Matter?
September 25, 2024

Darshana Baruah’s new book discusses the Indian Ocean region.

commentary
Why Pacific Island States Are Concerned About Deep-Sea Mining

The underwater minerals are needed for the global transition to clean energy, but the effects of extraction may pose major risks to surrounding states.

· November 27, 2023
event
Ocean Nations: The 3rd Annual Indo-Pacific Islands Dialogue
September 18, 2023

The third annual Summit of Indian and Pacific Ocean island nations, with a focus on the issues that affect them most.

  • +21
Q&A
“Consensus Is the DNA of the Pacific Region”

How small island states in the Pacific are banding together to navigate climate change and other pressing issues.

· September 13, 2023
REQUIRED IMAGE
In the Media
Bolstering the Quad: The Case for a Collective Approach to Maritime Security

This report lays out a case and provides a menu of policy options for how the Quad can pursue a collective approach to Indo-Pacific maritime security, with a particular focus on regional deterrence and defence.

  • +2
· August 8, 2023
United States Studies Centre
In The Media
in the media
Smooth Sailing in the Indo-Pacific, and Strategic Mapping in the Indian Ocean

A discussion on the importance of viewing the Indian Ocean region as one continuous theater, and the emergence of China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Russia as players in the region.

· July 16, 2023
ASPI Podcast: Policy, Guns & Money
event
Mapping the Indian Ocean: Australia Launch Event
June 16, 2023

Join Tim Watts, MP, Dr. Corlyn Bull, and Darshana M. Baruah for a conversation about Phase II of the Indian Ocean Interactive Map.

paper
Mapping the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean region’s importance to global trade, geopolitical competition, and maritime security is growing. Understanding its key players, regional organizations, and challenges is critical to crafting policy toward the region.

· June 15, 2023
event
How Small States Influence Global Politics: The Case of Maldives
June 15, 2023

A leader in advocating climate change and mitigation, as well as its presence at multilateral institutions, the Maldives provides a unique insight into the role small states play in global developments including on multilateral treaties, agreements and establishing norms and rules.