In the midst of rising non-conventional geopolitical impasse and great powers grappling with resource-based geopolitics, it has seemingly become imperative for middle powers such as India to foster sustainable livelihood for communities in SIDS countries of the South Pacific in order to achieve a balanced marine ecosystem.
Challenges and Prospects
Observing recent regional dynamics, the South Pacific Island countries have drawn attention to contemporary discourse, making it a region filled with opportunities due to its rich cultural heritage, natural resources, marine reserves, and humongous exclusive economic zones (EEZs), ranging from Kiribati (3.55 million sq km) to Samoa (120,000 sq km).
Historically, the PIC countries were colonies where the population was involved in plantation work and agricultural activities. Post-independence from colonial rulers, these countries became victims of great power competition and economic dependency, where resources were exploited for industrial and geopolitical purposes, which has led to the reduction in natural resources and their over-usage.
Furthermore, contemporarily, multiple non-traditional security threats have accentuated developmental hazards in the fishery-cum-maritime economies. Natural disasters such as cyclones, droughts, and floods have exacerbated impacts on soil fertility and seawater quality due to sea salinization, acidification, and increased CO2 levels. Even the region has witnessed fishing malpractices, including the misuse of marine resources for extractive industrial activities, illegal fishing trade, IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing, and overfishing, which could prove catastrophic for marine habitat and diversity, where even losses worth USD $4.1 billion in PIC countries may be witnessed.
Thus, New Delhi’s increased involvement in the South Pacific Islands could be seen through PM Modi’s recent visits to Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands to further expand its presence among PIC countries through its Security and Growth For All initiative. This aims to deter any climatic lacunas impacting the maritime economy, which has also given an incentive towards forming a Forum of India-Pacific Islands Cooperation in 2014.
Rising Relevance of Blue Economy in India-PIC Ties
Amidst rising power competition vis-à-vis QUAD and China, New Delhi has adopted a constructive-cum-realist stance to further mutual cooperation with small island developing states in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, giving the peripheral countries an edge in order to play a larger role in shaping a robust-cum-resilient rules-based order.
Furthermore, the term Blue Economy is becoming conceptually relevant, witnessed through the importance of protecting marine flora and fauna, which is being impacted by an increase in the usage of fossil fuels and oil spills taking place in the oceans, where marine life is negatively affected with the ocean waters becoming unfit for the existence of marine organisms.
Henceforth, the aforementioned term has been connoted in different ways, making the call for protecting marine coral reefs and water salinity even more relevant in the policy domain. Increased movement of sea vessels alongside the usage of exclusive economic zones for militarization and fossil fuel usage has severely led to oil spilling in oceans, loss of land, livelihood, and soil erosion, where even acidification of oceans has made marine flora and fauna more vulnerable to climate change. Among communities, societal economic disparity alongside marginalization could be seen, which may be the reason behind increased unemployment and poverty.
In order to promote sustainable development in fisheries and the promotion of animal husbandry alongside maritime tourism, India has initiated stellar soft power tools to engage and collaborate with PIC countries through awareness creation, aquaculture, and even humanitarian aid for ensuring timely action amid climate-induced natural disasters. Also, India has provided USD $150 million credit towards PIC countries to mitigate the relevant non-traditional security threats pertaining to climate change through forums such as the FIPIC.
Moreover, coming to New Delhi’s maneuvers, it could be seen as a means to ensure free sea lanes of navigation for the exploration of marine resources as per UNCLOS norms, promote aquaculture, and introduce innovative methods for fisheries to access modernized techniques of fishing. These initiatives may be a way for New Delhi to carve out a robust strategic leverage over the periphery under the Act East policy to foster itself as a responsible power player in the South Pacific Islands.
Thus, in order to tackle revisionism in the region vis-à-vis immanent power competition, soft approaches such as para-diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and economic cooperation could set the ground for the evolution of ties where small developing countries could play a balancing role in promoting sustainable fisheries and the supply of seafood.
China’s Expansionism In Pacific Islands: New Delhi’s Take
When it comes to perceptions regarding realist power politics in the Indo-Pacific, China’s maritime ambitions cannot be seen in a good light, considering its extractive debt diplomacy alongside peripheral outreach, which is not universal but has realist goals.
Moreover, Beijing has seemingly engaged constructively with island countries through the Global Development Initiative as well as promoting maritime development through the BRI by developing ports and setting up fishery businesses.
Even initiatives such as the China Pacific Islands Economic Development & Cooperation Forum and China-Pacific Islands Reserve Of Emergency Supplies have fostered sustainable livelihoods under humanitarian aid along with keeping a watch on unregulated IUU in the island countries. In 2021, the Guangzhou Declaration was signed to create a mechanism to tackle the threat to oceanic resources and livelihoods in the fishing industry.
In 2021, the PRC engaged with the small island countries in training 10,000 talents in order to work towards animal husbandry and fish farming to build up self-sufficiency and skill development among the local population.
However, this soft muscular posturing has irked stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific, which have now adopted containment strategies through fostering capacity building and technology-based agricultural practices for fishermen. This could provide them with a more transparent way of attracting more investments and market-friendly prices so that their products have more consumers abroad, having positive impacts on small and medium enterprises in smaller island countries.
What Lies Ahead For India’s Role in Ensuring a Blue Pacific
Therefore, the promotion of Blue Economy initiatives could definitely play a critical role among stakeholder countries to lay more emphasis on maritime growth and fisheries development, which, as per SDG14, lays emphasis on protecting marine resources and aquatic life, being key for the survival of the fishing industries in small island states.
Beijing’s economic endeavors are intended to foster South-South Cooperation among peripheral countries, giving an incentive to also work on this common challenge of the maritime fisheries industry to usher in smaller economies. This has provided an impetus to focus on multidimensional realms where gaps should be filled by middle powers to foster marine development in the Global South.
In order to keep such challenges in consultation mode, great and middle powers could collaborate on disaster mitigation funds, innovate surveillance technological tools to access disaster-prone areas so that action and strategies are placed timely.
Nevertheless, the US and Australia are collaborating with New Delhi through the QUAD’s Maritime Domain Awareness and its contribution to foster a rules-based order and a Blue Pacific by 2050 through the promotion of maritime tourism, aquaculture, and innovative technological solutions for fishermen in order to ensure robust and resilient competition in the globalized market.
As far as India is concerned, the realist approach of the Modi government towards the periphery could be a stellar move. In order to promote sustainable maritime governance through economic cooperation and capacity building to foster oceanic equilibrium, India and PIC members could collaborate together in shaping an inclusive regional order.
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