Obama's asia pivot policy : Implications for south asia

Abstract

One of the hallmarks of US President Barrack Obama's foreign policy is the 'pivot to Asia'. This policy is aimed at rebalancing US defence policies towards Asia. The Obama administration has rearticulated its policy away from the Middle East toward the Asia-Pacific. The focus of this research is on the strategic aspect of the policy. Under this rebalancing strategy, Washington, aims to increase its naval presence from the current 50/50 split between Atlantic and Asia-pacific to 40/60 respectively by 2020. Further, the geographical scope of the Asia-Pacific has been defined as 'stretching from the Indian subcontinent to the western shores of the America's, the region spans two oceans, the Pacific and the Indian oceans that are increasingly linked by shipping and strategy. As India has been termed as a 'linchpin' of this policy; it is going to be more affected. This research is a humble attempt to analyze the consequences of the Pivot on South Asian countries, with special focus on India. The first section of the dissertation discusses the rise of China and US's relative decline in order to explain the background of the pivot. It then moves on to discuss the changing geopolitical shifts in the Asian balance of power. This part sets to explain how the US and Chinese competing interests have changed the security architecture of Asia and how South Asian countries, particularly India is going to deal with it. Finally, the study would attempt to recommend some measures that India could adopt and benefit from the geopolitical opportunity from the emerging competition between US and China.