Publication

This paper seeks to explore the sources of new maritime orientation in China and India. It begins with a brief review of the powerful and very similar traditions of continentalism that tended to dampen the maritime imperatives in China and India. The paper then looks at the logic of globalization that is propelling Beijing and Delhi to address their rapidly improving positions in the international system and the consequences that flow out of it. The final three sections of the paper look at the impact of Mahan and his conceptions of sea power on India. The paper examines how two important elements of sea power – overseas trade and forward presence –are influencing the strategic maritime thinking in China and India.