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.
