Oil and Asian maritime security in the Indian Ocean

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship between oil and maritime security with a focus on the three major Asian economies, namely China, Japan and India, which are heavily dependent on oil imports via the Indian Ocean, as well as the role of the United States as a maritime security provider. The analysis covers the Indian Ocean as a strategic maritime space, the energy profiles of, and the critical role of oil imports for China, Japan and India, to explain the importance of the Indian Ocean as a key energy lifeline to them. It then discusses the growing strategic distrust and maritime contestation taking place in the Indian Ocean, covering the approaches, attitudes and responses of China, India, Japan and the United States within this maritime space. The author notes that China, India and Japan, together with the United States, share a practical and common interest to ensure the stability of the Indian Ocean, particularly in addressing non-traditional security challenges. However, larger geostrategic considerations, zero-sum thinking over traditional security issues and ideational differences - between China on one side, and pro-democratic India, Japan and the United States on the other - have overshadowed prospects for cooperation in the Indian Ocean.