Former Union Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar has asserted that the Indo-Pacific is a historical reality which cannot be erased by a Pentagon pencil. Responding to a question by ANI on the US renaming the Indo-Pacific Command back to US Pacific Command, he stated that "America is being unwise."
America's Decision Unwise, Says Akbar
"The Indo-Pacific is a historical reality which cannot be erased by a Pentagon pencil. If whoever official in Pentagon, we don't know how is it on the instructions of the war secretary or not. But irrespective of that, this is a government of America decision, which it has been taken. I think America is being unwise," Akbar said.
War for Water and Trade Routes
The former Union Minister highlighted that while war may seem to be on land, there is also a war for water and water routes. "What we are witnessing today across the world, while war may seem a land activity, we are also witnessing a war for water and a war for water routes. Because you must remember that oil without water is impotent and manufactured goods without trade routes are deeply crippled. The strategic struggle is for either control or compatibility around trade rules. The wars with that we are witnessing from Ukraine to the east are also wars for the Mediterranean, for the Black Sea, for the Caspian, for the Red Sea, for the Arabian Sea. And these five seas are searching for a sixth sea. And that sixth sea is the Indian Ocean," he said.
India's Strategic Hold on Malacca Strait
Akbar emphasized that the US must understand India's strong hold on the Malacca Strait, which is the choke point of all trade to the Far East. "America must understand that the Malacca Straits, which are the choke point of all the trade that goes to the Far East, particularly China and Japan and so on. That the Malacca Straits are virtually the Hormuz Straits of India and Indonesia. When the challenge for, if the challenge for the navigation on the straits, if it ever comes, then India will be playing a very critical role. Because in the last 10 years, India has strengthened its strategic position on those seas," he said.
Background: US Renaming of Command
On June 16, the US Department of War sought to undo its 2018 change by renaming the USINDOPACOM back to USPACOM (US Pacific Command). It was US President Donald Trump's first administration that introduced the change in 2018, signaling Washington's gradual embrace of the Indo-Pacific construct, according to the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). However, since the onset of the second Trump administration, uncertainty has loomed over Washington's focus on the Indo-Pacific. The renaming has further fueled uncertainty about US involvement in the region, ORF stated.
