Abstract
In the recent period, India has emerged as one of the key political and economic players at the global level. In order to make its mark as a major maritime power, it has adopted an ambitious plan of naval modernisation. This brings to the fore the question how successive governments in India have sought to promote the country’s interests. In the recent years, India under the UPA rule played an assertive role in the Indian Ocean region in order to protect its interests and strategic preponderance. India’s Indian Ocean strategy has, among other things, focused on countering the growing Chinese influence among the Indian Ocean littoral countries. Nevertheless, it was seen that the UPA government did not show enough dynamism to formulate a strong Indian Ocean policy. The new government under Prime Minister Modi is seen to pursue an active Indian Ocean policy in pursuit of maritime power and influence. Thus, the paper seeks to study the evolution and variations in the strategies adopted by the UPA and NDA rule towards the Indian Ocean. Among other things, the paper also tries to explore how China figures in India’s strategic ambitions in the sea.