After the World War II, the US and India have the two dominant actors in the Indian Ocean. However, with the increasing Chinese inroads in Indian Ocean, and its littoral space in the recent decades, the strategic equations of the Indian Ocean have changed beyond imagination. In 1990s, China came with the string of pearls s strategy, moved ahead to deploy her naval forces in 2007 in the name of fighting piracy, and now launched her ambitious BRI project in 2013 across Indian Ocean. China has also acquired new strategic assets in the region in the form of access to Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar port and naval base in Djibouti. Perhaps, India, which considers Indian Ocean as her backyard, is the most affected nation due to these developments. India’s security, trade and other vital economic interests are contingent on her credible presence and influence in the Indian Ocean. This paper seeks to analyze the nature of strategic competition or even rivalry between India and China and the role of the US in this emerging strategic situation. It also seeks to outline India’s options including modernization and restructuring of her naval forces, and emerging partnership with her neighbours as well the US and other powers in the entire Indo-pacific Ocean. The idea of Indo-pacific has also linked the fate of two Oceans-the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. India needs to dovetail her maritime strategy with the notion of Indo-Pacific to evolve a broad coalition of forces to balance emerging and assertive China to protect her vital interests.

Keywords: Strategic Competition; Indo-Pacific; Maritime Strategy; String of Pearls; Strategic Partnership