Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific - Softcover

C. Raja Mohan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0870032712 ISBN 13: 9780870032714

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 2012

Synopsis

Rising China and emerging India are becoming major maritime powers. As they build large navies to secure their growing interests, both nations are churning the waters of the Indo-Pacific - the vast littoral stretching from Africa to Australasia. Invoking a tale from Indian mythology, 'Samudra Manthan' ('to churn an ocean'), C. Raja Mohan tells the story of a Sino-Indian rivalry spilling over from the Himalayas into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. He examines the prospects for mitigating their competition in this arena. The United States also gets involved, as it attempts to expand its presence and influence in this strategically important region. Despite the huge differences in the current naval capabilities of China, India, and the United States, Mohan argues, the three countries are locked in a triangular dynamic destined to shape the strategic future of the Indo-Pacific. Samudra Manthan makes sense of that dynamic. Contents of this title includes: Introduction; The Structure of the Rivalry; In Search of Sea Power; Taking to the Blue Waters; Maritime Nuclear Power; India's Pacific Ambitions; China Eyes the Indian Ocean; Circling the Strategic Islands; Contesting the Littoral; Mitigating the Security Dilemma; Ordering the Indo-Pacific; and, Samudra Manthan.

About this title

About the Author:

C. Raja Mohan heads the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi. He is a columnist on foreign affairs for one of India's leading English dailies, Indian Express, a nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Mohan has published widely and his books include Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy (2004) and Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order (2006).

About this edition

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0870032712
• ISBN 13: 9780870032714
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360