The Indo-Pacific is a geopolitical and strategic concept that defines the maritime space spanning the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a single, continuous strategic system. It combines the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Western Pacific region (WP), replacing the older, more geographically limited "Asia-Pacific" concept.
The term was first used by German geopolitician Karl Haushofer in the 1920s, but the modern geopolitical construct gained prominence after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Confluence of the Two Seas" speech to the Indian parliament in August 2007. The concept emerged from the realization that the security and economic interests of countries in both oceans are deeply interconnected. It is widely viewed as a strategic response to the rise of China's power, aiming to create a regional order based on international law and freedom of navigation.
The concept is operationalized through various national strategies and multilateral mechanisms. A key mechanism is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), an informal grouping of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. The US formalized its vision as the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" (FOIP) in 2019. India's vision, articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, emphasizes a "free, open, and inclusive" region and the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). India also launched the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) in November 2019, which outlines seven pillars for cooperation, including Maritime Security and Trade.
The concept connects to India's Act East Policy, which succeeded the Look East Policy in 2014 and is considered a precursor to the Indo-Pacific framework. Recently, the focus has broadened beyond traditional security to include economic cooperation through initiatives like the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), launched in 2022, which focuses on supply chain resilience and clean energy. The shift from "Asia-Pacific" to Indo-Pacific marks a change by formally integrating India as a major strategic player in the broader Asian security architecture.