A nation must think before it acts.
In attempts to forge an incipient security architecture for the Indian Ocean region, India has held over twenty annual Malabar naval exercises involving the United States and Japan. But much to Canberra’s dismay, India chose to keep Australia out of these exercises in 2018. Most members of the Indian strategic community suggest that this can be attributed to India’s fear of provoking the wrath of the People’s Republic of China.