C Raja Mohan writes: Katchatheevu and beyond, islands and India's new geopolitics

Delhi's surprising focus on Katchatheevu, an island in the narrow strip of waters between India and Sri Lanka, is a part of the ruling BJP's determination to break into Tamil Nadu's electoral map. Hopefully, the potential negative consequences for Delhi's improving ties with Colombo are manageable. But zooming out of Katchatheevu to the audit of Indian foreign policy over the last decade, we find island states and territories from the South Pacific to the African coast have become new nodes in India's changing strategic geography. Indo-Pacific - from 'American plot' to maritime orientation Whether it is the Maldives that now…