From Indonesia to Australia to New Zealand, PM Modi charts India's Indo-Pacific arc

One of the characteristics of an atomized world is that nations are busy pursuing their interests in different ways. China is busy tightening its grip around India. Pakistan is busy creating a multi-purpose Sunni Muslim alliance on its west. The US is busy dismantling the post 1945 world order. India is busy too, building relationships with countries cutting across geography and erstwhile alliances.

India's simultaneous reality as a rimland state of the Eurasian landmass and littoral nation astride the Indian Ocean was understood by India's ancient empires and kingdoms well before latter day Indo-Pacificists were born. In recent years, India's ability to wrap its continental and maritime persona around its head has manifested in the successful pursuit of a multi-vector foreign policy. Against this background, the last few days and those ahead can be seen as constituting India's turn to the maritime theatre, covering the arc from Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean to Japan in the Pacific to Indonesia and Australia in the eastern Indian Ocean and New Zealand in the South Pacific.

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The arc is not accidental. This foreign policy blitz by India involves carefully chosen countries, with all of whom we have substantive ties. More importantly, these are all countries that share the vision of a multipolar Asia with India. They believe this is the time to strengthen autonomy and buy insurance against domination by a single power, before it is too late. It is not India alone which feels threatened or feels the need to hedge against regional hegemony and global uncertainty. The story repeats itself in different ways with Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. These are countries that want to preserve their strategic space and economic and technological sovereignty. This has acquired particular urgency after the US review of its Indo-Pacific policy and altruism towards China.

With the largest Armed Forces in the Indo-Pacific, the largest market, largest repository of skills, largest consumer of raw materials and energy and fastest growing economy, India is an indispensable power for countries of the region. Its functioning democracy and open, transparent and stable political system further enhances its appeal in the region. India's partnerships with each of the countries being visited by Prime Minister Modi next week get their ballast from each of the above attributes. They put the partnerships on a natural growth path and make them durable, resilient and non-threatening.

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The importance of Indonesia for India is such that it can be said that more is less. The complementarities between India and Indonesia are far deeper than is commonly known. It is without doubt a relationship whose full potential is yet to be realised. This will be Modi's first State Visit, as distinct to an official visit, to Indonesia. President Prabowo Subianto is a seasoned leader who understands defense and security issues better than any other Indonesia leader in the recent past. He has played on the front foot on most several international crises, including voicing his concerns with China. Under him, partnership with India in the strategic areas of maritime cooperation, defense and security, space, science and technology, critical minerals and rare earths are on the upswing, and these are likely to witness a boost during the forthcoming Summit.

Australia presents a different case. It is a member of the western security alliance, and with India, a member of the Quad. Despite different foreign policy orientations, there has been a dramatic turnaround in India's relations with it under the Modi government, reflected in the fact that this would be Modi's third visit to Australia after 2014 and 2023. China is an important trade partner for both countries, but both share common concerns on the growth of China's military, intelligence and technology capabilities in their respective peripheries. The two countries have been innovative in creating trilateral groupings variously involving Canada, France, Japan and Indonesia, besides increasing the level of their defence and technology cooperation and military exercises. Australia is also an extremely valuable source of raw materials such as coal and rare earths, including lithium, that are essential to power India's growth.

Modi's visit to New Zealand will fill a major gap in India's Pacific policy by being the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in the last forty years. New Zealand regards itself as a "small power" but exercises disproportionate influence in its neighbourhood The Free Trade Agreement concluded with New Zealand in December 2025 and signed in April this year was one of the fastest negotiations of any FTA by India, and will serve as a gateway to the wider Oceania and Pacific Island nations. Both New Zealand and Australia are members of important multilateral export control regimes which are of key interest to India.

The Indo-Pacific region is part of India's extended neighbourhood. It has different sub-regions with their own characteristics but what binds them is their interest in building an open and stable security and economic architecture. India is a welcome partner in this project. It needs to keep integrating itself with the region and build a network of relationships and supply and value chains that promote the broader strategic goals of the region and of India in the technology era.

The author is former Deputy NSA