Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to participate today in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders’ summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Delaware. The meeting of the four major maritime powers in the Indo-Pacific region — the US, Australia, Japan and India — is taking place against the backdrop of China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea, its saber rattling in the Taiwan Strait, and increasing footprints in the Pacific and Indian oceans, which pose a serious challenge to freedom of navigation.
India has been bearing the brunt of Chinese belligerence not only on its land border, but also its oceanic frontier. Surrounded on three sides by sea, India is primarily a maritime nation. To the east, the Bay of Bengal washes along its shores, while on the west it is the Arabian Sea and in the south it is the Indian Ocean seamlessly connected with the Pacific.
India sits astride a very large number of busy international shipping lanes that crisscross the Indian Ocean. More than 90 percent of India’s trade by volume and 70 percent by value is transported by sea. India views the 21st century as the “century of the seas,” with maritime trade serving as a key enabler of its global resurgence.
While the coalition of democracies has been cooperating to face China’s belligerence in the Pacific, the US renamed the Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command in 2018 in recognition of the strategic significance of India and the Indian Ocean. Earlier in 2007, then-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, speaking before the Indian parliament, articulated the concept of “confluence of the seas,” saying that the Pacific and Indian oceans were bringing about a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and prosperity.
A broader Asia that broke away from its geographical boundaries was beginning to take on a distinctive form for India and Japan, he added.
Although India’s biggest concerns and challenges to its security and territorial integrity emanate through its land border to the north, China has also firmed up its footprint in the Indian Ocean, including in Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Gwadar Port in Pakistan, the Coco Islands in Myanmar, Chittagong Port in Bangladesh and in the Maldives, much to the chagrin of India. This has led to the coinage of the term “String of Pearls.” Apart from the South China Sea, China has also enhanced its footprint in the western Pacific, including in the Solomon Islands, with which it signed a security pact in 2022.
India has major strategic interests as well as economic and commercial stakes in continued peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. India’s view is that all nations must exercise restraint and resolve bilateral issues diplomatically and without recourse to the use or threat of use of force. India supports freedom of navigation in international waters and believes that the current regional security landscape calls for a cooperative and inclusive approach.
For its part, under the “Act East” policy which places renewed emphasis on engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, India has been an active participant in various bilateral and multilateral security forums such as the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus and the ASEAN Regional Forum. India has urged stakeholders to comply with the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s July 2016 ruling in favor of the Philippines in its maritime dispute with China.
Pursuant to its “Act East” policy, India has been conducting naval exercises with the US near the Malabar Coast since 1992. Later, Japan and Australia began participating in these annual exercises to facilitate interoperability. In addition, India has undertaken bilateral naval exercises with most of the ASEAN nations, including Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The engagement of India’s state-owned ONGC Videsh in hydrocarbon exploration in the South China Sea has commercial and strategic traction. India and Vietnam have renewed their oil exploration contract in the South China Sea. India has also extended a US$100 billion line of credit to Vietnam for procuring high-speed gunboats for its coastal defense. In a significant development, India and Philippines recently signed an agreement to buy BrahMos missiles from India. India also participates in Rim of the Pacific, the world’s largest maritime warfare exercise.
The Taiwan Strait connects the South China Sea to the East China Sea in the northeast, and so resonates palpably in the Indo-Pacific scene. All nations in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, have stakes in the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, and also in the preservation and promotion of democracy in Taiwan. India has urged restraint and avoidance of unilateral action to change the “status quo” in the region, including the militarization of the Taiwan Strait.
Rup Narayan Das is a Delhi-based China academic and was a Taiwan Fellow in 2022. The views expressed here are personal.
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
Last month, two major diplomatic events unfolded in Southeast Asia that suggested subtle shifts in the region’s strategic landscape. The 46th ASEAN Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf-Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Trilateral Summit in Kuala Lumpur coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visits to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. Together, they highlighted ASEAN’s maturing global posture, deepening regional integration and China’s intensifying efforts to recalibrate its economic diplomacy amid uncertainties posed by the US. The ASEAN summit took place amid rising protectionist policies from the US, notably sweeping tariffs on goods from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, with duties as high as 49 percent.
RSS