Madagascar’s Promising Asia–Pacific Strategy

The strategic centrality of this area is mediated by the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, which form a single connected maritime whole. This notion of connectivity and interdependence of maritime flows, as well as the importance accorded to maritime security and freedom of navigation, are at the heart of various Indo-Pacific visions. As such, although Madagascar lacks an articulated strategy for this regional position that it occupies, recent statements by the minister of foreign affairs, Rafaravavitafika Rasata, indicate that this position is one Madagascar wishes to take advantage of, particularly with regard to the eastern part of the world. Faithful to its tradition of all-out diplomacy and non-alignment, Madagascar maintains fairly balanced relations with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. In terms of trade, Madagascar’s main export countries in 2024 were the European Union (25 per cent) and the United States (11 per cent), followed by three Asian countries; namely Japan (8 per cent), South Korea (8 per cent) and China (7 per cent). This economic reality corroborates Madagascar’s desire to orient its policy towards the Eastern Hemisphere.