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By Amira El-Fekki
Middle East News Reporter
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China has rapidly expanded its military footprint across the Indian Ocean, conducting exercises from the Red Sea to the Malacca Strait and deepening ties with key regional players—including some U.S. allies, analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reveals.
Newsweek has reached out to Chinese and Indian authorities for comment.
Why It Matters
China's growing expansion in the Indian Ocean—an essential route for global trade—has prompted India to step up its naval activity to counter regional challenges.
Read More on World
While not a formal U.S. ally, India has become a key strategic partner in Washington's efforts to balance China's influence, with President Donald Trump once calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "great guy."
Although the United States has historically prioritized the Pacific, it signaled a broader regional outlook by renaming Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific Command in 2018, acknowledging the Indian Ocean's rising strategic importance.
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What To Know
IISS, a global thinktank, highlighted China's military presence and the drills it had conducted in the Indian Ocean from 2020 to 2025.
"China's military deployments and presence in the Indian Ocean is significantly different today compared to a decade ago," IISS Senior Fellow Darshana M. Baruah who co-authored the analysis, told Newsweek on Wednesday.
China has deployed anti-submarine warfare assets across key points in the Indian Ocean and held annual maritime exercises with Iran and Russia between 2022 and 2025, the recent report noted. China is also deepening ties with U.S. Arab allies.
China's expanding presence in the Indian Ocean could help it secure critical energy transit routes and protect its sea lines of communication, while deepening strategic ties with Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia.
One of China's biggest challenges is gaining operational experience and familiarity with the environment, compared to its competitors, India and the U.S. in particular, Baruah noted.
While India remains Washington's primary strategic partner in the region, the U.S. presence at the island of Diego Garcia offers an enduring foothold in the Indian Ocean.
India's already uneasy relationship with China has grown more tense amid Beijing's deepening alignment with Pakistan—its nuclear rival—with expanded military cooperation, notable in Pakistan's deployment of Chinese-made fighter jets in the latest aerial conflict with India.
What People Are Saying
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): "Along with securing its interests, Beijing has established itself and its capabilities in the area, anticipating any potential future conflict in the Western Pacific."
Darshana M. Baruah, Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy, IISS told Newsweek: "India considers the Indian Ocean its primary area of interest and is a resident player. Developments and strategic threat in the Indian Ocean will always have an important impact on India's maritime calculations."
What Happens Next
A carrier strike group—and potentially a Chinese aircraft carrier—are expected to enter the Indian Ocean theatre, signaling a more permanent and assertive naval presence in the region, according to IISS.
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