China’s Post-1978 Maritime Relations with South Asia: Towards Greater Cooperation

The objectives of this article are, firstly, to identify the place occupied by the Indian Ocean and South Asia in China’s maritime strategy, and secondly, to identify the appropriate means of dealing with the global and regional maritime security concerns arising from China’s maritime strategy as far as the Indian Ocean and South Asia are concerned. Given the fact that the South Asian states of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as China, are members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), this forum could provide a multilateral setting for dealing with the maritime concerns in China–South Asia relations.