Indian Ocean Region Archives

Sri Lanka’s significant role in the Indian Ocean Region – By Arundathie Abeysinghe Image Source : britannica “Whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia. This ocean is the key to the seven seas. In the 21st century, the destiny of the world will be decided on its waters”. – American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan Since time immemorial, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been a significant location, the world’s third-largest body of water, a theatre of strategic competition and power politics, a tangled web of power struggles of great powers, mainly due to its economic impact in the east-west maritime trade as the Ocean provides a link between the East and the West, in the form of vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs) nurturing the world’s economy. Extending from the Strait of Malacca and western coast of Australia in the East to the Mozambique Channel in the West, the ...

Strategic geopolitical relevance of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean Region By Arundathie Abeysinghe Sri Lanka, a small island state in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is strategically located at the crossroads of major shipping routes to South Asia, the Far East as well as the continents of Europe and America. Sri Lanka is also strategically located among the most significant sea lines of communication (SLOC). Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean Region has been geopolitically significant for major powers for centuries. As such, Sri Lanka was colonized by Portuguese, Dutch and the British who used it as a transit hub to trade goods, a port to dock as well as refuel ships which navigated their massive empires. Enclosed on three sides by landmasses and several countries, Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world which has a water area of approximately 73 million square ...