Studies On The India’s Maritime Strategy Since Independence

India is the greatest country in the India Ocean, and it is also a typical sea-land compound country. Being a marine country has been all along pursued by India, and its maritime strategy is developing as the national strength and the international situation change. This paper comprehensively discusses the forming process of India’s concept of sea power, the development of India’s maritime strategy since its independence, the reasons for the changes of the maritime strategy of India and the influence its new maritime strategy bring to China.The first chapter of this paper is a brief introduction to the geographic position, marine climate, marine resource and sea passages of India, analyzing India’s marine environment and why and how India has transformed from its traditional marine concept into the modern concept of sea power.The second chapter of this paper analyses the course of development of India’s maritime strategy and their characteristics during each period, which has been divided into three stages:the first period is from its independence to1960s; the second period is from1960s to the end of the Cold War; and the third period is after the Cold War.The third chapter of this paper expounds the main factor that influences the development process of India’s maritime strategy, which includes geographical and historical factors, national security factors, political factors within India and the international environment, etc. Among them the elements of the national security, inside political factor and the international environment are quite unstable, which demands a constant adjustment of the maritime strategy of India.The forth chapter of this paper discusses the influence the changes of India’s maritime strategy bring to China since the end of the Cold War, including pros and cons. The positive effect mainly refers to peace and security it brings to Asia; the negative effect refers to the fact that India’s new actions at sea will threat China’s energy transportation safety at sea and affect the development of the relationship between China and the countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia, thus, increasing the obstructive factors in solving the South China Sea Dispute, etc.