Maritime Power Building New ‘Mantra’ for China’s Rise

The growth of China`s maritime prowess has been a key facet marking the ascendency of its comprehensive national power. A fact amply indicated both by the articulation of the Chinese leadership and empirical evidences, it flows from Beijing`s realisation of the growing salience of the oceanic realm and the attendant imperative of being strong at sea for China to attain the status of a global power. In recent years, the scale and speed with which, the erstwhile continental power has accreted all facets of its maritime capacity both civilian and military has surpassed the best practitioners of the `maritime tradecraft`, worldwide. In this book titled `Maritime Power Building: New `Mantra for China`s Rise`, `Mantra` is an Indian word denoting a sacred utterance, believed to have spiritual power. The book is a collective endeavour of India`s National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and the U.S. Centre of Naval Analysis (CNA). It seeks to collate the academic efforts and perspectives of the two premier maritime thinktanks located on the opposite sides of the globe to examine and extrapolate China`s approach to maritime power building. A key facet addressed is the modernisation of the PLA Navy, which is the final arbiter and preserver of China`s maritime and overseas interests in the extended IndoPacific region. The book is aimed at facilitating an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of China`s rise as a maritime power for the region in particular, and for the world at large.