The Indian Ocean, with its crowded and in some cases contested sea lanes, is becoming the center of international maritime rivalry, with various powers jousting for influence and advantage in the world's third largest body of water, which serves as a vital transit route for the global economy.
As if to highlight this trend, the Chinese navy recently conducted live-fire drills in the western Indian Ocean. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted the fleet commander as saying that his ships "carried out strikes against 'enemy' surface ships" in an "exercise that lasted several days." The fleet included a destroyer, a guided-missile frigate and a supply vessel. Earlier this year, similar live-fire drills were carried out in the eastern Indian Ocean by a Chinese fleet that also included a destroyer.
