India is both a continental as well as a maritime power, which gives it a predominant position in the Indian Ocean region, said Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan. The honour comes with the honour and added responsibility of always being the first responder and preferred partner of choice for any other country in the region, he added.
Addressing the 9th Military Literature Festival 2025, the Chief of Defence Staff on Sunday highlighted that the struggle for global power that was once aimed at geographical control, ranging from the land to the skies, has now expanded to space, the virtual world, and even to the cognitive domain.
Citing from British author Tim Marshall's book 'Prisoners of Geography', the CDS emphasised that a nation's location and its geographic characteristics determine its ability to project power and provide strategic options, regardless of its size.
"If you look at the geopolitical events of the 20th century, India's partition, the coming of Pakistan, our war with China, forced India to have a continental kind of an outlook. But if you look at India's geography, I think it says that India is both a continental and a maritime power... So India enjoys a predominant position in the Indian Ocean region, and hence, we are always the first responder and preferred partner of choice for any other country..." he said.
"Over a century, the struggle for global power has been in essence a struggle for control of geography. The seas, the continents, the skies, and if you look at today's context, it extends towards space, cyberspace, and the cognitive domain. The location of nation states and its clinical geography determines its ability to project power and provide strategic options beyond its size," General Chauhan said.
He cited examples of countries, including Djibouti and Singapore, highlighting their strategic importance. CDS Chauhan mentioned that both nations are situated in strategically critical locations. Djibouti is located at the Bab el Mandeb, whereas Singapore is near the Strait of Malacca.
CDS Chauhan emphasised that the location of these countries enhances their importance in international trade. "There are two small nations, Djibouti and Singapore, both of which lie at the Bab el Mandeb and the Strait of Malacca, not only strategically important but also important for trade. Similarly, if we look at our nearest maritime neighbour Indonesia, the number of states which connect the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, that is Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, and Ombai-Wetar Straits," the CDS said.
The 9th Military Literature Festival 2025 was themed 'Heartland and Rimland powers in a Multi-domain Warfare and India' on its second day in Chandigarh.
