1.19. The Indo-Pacific

♤ It was first brought up by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007 in a speech to the Indian Parliament to represent the vast swathe of water that connects the Pacific and the Indian Oceans.

♤ It has recently got some traction after Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, used it in a major policy speech in Washington. Trump in his visit to China also referred to the Indo- Pacific.

♤ The first ever use of the term in the recently released National Security Strategy Document of the USA, in 2017, has provided the term new salience.

♤ Against this backdrop, efforts to rejuvenate the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or the “Quad”) between Australia, India, Japan and the US on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Manila, in 2017, are of notable significance.