China’s Anti-Piracy Operations in the Gulf of Aden and Beyond: Implications for India

Since 2008, China has been conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden marking an inflection point in its increasing maritime interest and footprint in the Indian Ocean rim. This also marks a significant shift in its naval strategy: from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean and from limited coastaldefence focus to holistic maritime governance partnerships. While Chinese naval missions may have contributed to regional maritime security, they have also raised critical concerns amongst major stakeholders in the peace and security of the Indian Ocean region. This is especially true of India that has become increasingly conscious of the disruptive nature of China’s expanding naval footprint in its immediate maritime periphery. In this fast-changing strategic landscape, this article explores into the magnitude and motivations of China’s deployment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) starting from 2008 in the Gulf of Aden and then expanding its maritime engagements way beyond this limited region and limited issue of piracy. It elucidates various operational aspects of China’s missions and broader geopolitical implications of China’s infrastructure building. From there, it extracts likely potential challenges that this entails for India’s maritime interests as also what has been India’s response in ensuring its regional maritime stability and security.