China Hosts Indian Ocean Forum that Competes with Indian-led Organization

 The China International Development Cooperation Agency published on 17 December 2024 an article titled "3rd China-Indian Ocean Forum on Development Cooperation Held in Kunming."

Wang Yong, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said at the opening ceremony of the China-Indian Ocean Forum that "the construction of a maritime community with a shared future is evolving from a Chinese initiative into a shared international goal."

India's Observer Research Foundation published on 30 December 2024 a commentary titled "Competitive Regionalism in the Indian Ocean" by Sayantan Haldar.

The Indian Ocean is witnessing competition for primacy between China and India.  In 1997, India created the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) for Regional Cooperation.  China has dialogue partner status.  Since 2021, China has been convening the China-Indian Ocean Forum.  India is not a member.  

IORA is an intergovernmental forum that seeks to operate through diplomatic dialogue on issues of maritime security.  The China-Indian Ocean Forum reinforces a client-patron dynamic between China and Indian Ocean littoral states, whereas IORA is a democratic forum fostering dialogue on issues of common interest.  

China Tries to Increase Influence in Indian Ocean at Expense of India

 Defence.in published on 6 December 2023 an article titled "To Increase Its Influence in Indian Ocean Region, China Will Host the Second IORF Meeting."

The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), a branch of the Communist Party of China, will host this week the second meeting of the Indian Ocean Region Forum (IORF).  At the first meeting of the IORF in 2022, nineteen nations attended, including seven from Africa: Kenya. Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Djibouti.

India, which leads the 23-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), has not been invited to the IORF.  The Chinese forum appears to be an effort to counter the influence of the IORA in the Indian Ocean.

India Steps Up Competition with China in Tanzania

 The Diplomat published on 14 October 2023 a commentary titled "The China Factor in the India-Tanzania Strategic Partnership" by Raghvendra Kumar, an independent researcher who recently submitted his doctoral thesis at the University of Delhi.  

China's Belt and Road Initiative in Tanzania has contributed to economic and environmental vulnerabilities that, in turn, has created space for New Delhi to expand and consolidate its bilateral engagement with Dar es Salaam.  Tanzania is a reliable and trusted partner for India in its extended Indian Ocean maritime neighborhood.  

Key Players in the Indian Ocean Region

 The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published in June 2023 a major study titled "Mapping the Indian Ocean Region" by Darshana M. Baruah, Nitya Labh, and Jessica Greely.

The study treats the Indian Ocean region as one continuous theater and looks at the major players, security challenges, and other factors that shape the region.  It demonstrates how the Indian Ocean's economic, political, military, and geographic features interact to create a single geopolitical arena.  

Coincidentally, the U.S. Department of State posted on 30 May 2023 a fact sheet titled "U.S. Relationship with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and Commitment to the Indian Ocean Region."

The release of the fact sheet was tied to the reopening after 27 years of the U.S. embassy in the Seychelles and the visit to Seychelles, Mauritius, and Comoros by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma.