Challenging a hegemony
India’s entry into South china sea
With China expanding its presence in the Indian Ocean region, India is staking its own claims in East Asia.
India’s ties with China have entered a new phase as New Delhi asserts its rights in the international waters of South China Sea and deepens its engagement with Hanoi.
External affairs minister S M Krishna was in Vietnam last week when India snubbed China and made it clear that India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will continue to pursue oil and natural gas exploration in two Vietnamese blocks in South China Sea. Asking countries ‘outside the region’ to stay away from the South China Sea, China had issued a demarche to India underlining that Beijing’s permission should be sought for exploration in Blocks 127 and 128 and that without it, OVL’s activities would be considered illegal. Vietnam, meanwhile had underlined the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to claim its sovereign rights over the two blocks being explored. India decided to go by the Vietnam’s claims and ignore China’s objections.
The official Chinese reaction to the Indian decision was an assertion that China has undisputable sovereignty over South China Sea and its islands and that Beijing remains opposed to any country involving itself in oil and gas exploration there. But the official media has come out all guns blazing. The Global Times, an influential Communist Party-run newspaper, called India’s dealings with Vietnam a ‘serious political provocation’ that would ‘push China to the limit.’ It went on to argue that ‘China should try every means possible to stop this cooperation from happening.’
India’s bold move is aimed at asserting India’s legal claims in the international waters of South China Sea as well as strengthening its relationship with Vietnam. Both moves unsettle China which views India’s growing engagement in East Asia with suspicion. In late July, an unidentified Chinese warship had demanded that the INS Airavat, an amphibious assault vessel, identify itself and explain its presence in the South China Sea after the vessel left Vietnamese waters.
The Indian warship was completing a scheduled port call in Vietnam and was in international waters. Though the Indian Navy promptly denied that a Chinese warship had confronted its assault vessel as reported by London’s Financial Times, it did not completely deny the factual basis of the report.
Fears have been rising in Asia that China is seeking to use its growing maritime might to dominate not only the hydrocarbon-rich waters of the South China Sea but also its crucial shipping lanes, the lifeline of regional economies. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, used her visit to Asia last year to signal unequivocally that the US was unwilling to accept China’s push for regional hegemony.
“Core interest”
When Beijing claimed that it now considers its ownership of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as a “core interest,” Clinton retorted by proposing that the US help establish an international mechanism to mediate the overlapping claims of sovereignty between China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia that now exist in the South China Sea.
China has collided with Vietnam and Philippines in recent months over issues related to the exploitation of South China Sea for its mineral resources and oil. It was under American guardianship of common interests for the last several decades that China has emerged as the economic powerhouse it is today. Now it wants a new system—a system that only works for Beijing and does not deal with the provision of public goods or common resources. With its moves in South China Sea, India too is challenging China’s claims.
With China expanding its presence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, India is staking its own claims in East Asia. Most significant in this regard is India’s growing engagement with Vietnam. India has decided to work with Vietnam to establish a regular Indian presence in the region as part of a larger Delhi-Hanoi security partnership with Vietnam giving India right to use its port of Nha Trang. Delhi and Hanoi have significant stakes in ensuring sea lanes security and preventing sea piracy while they also share concerns about Chinese access to the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.
Indian strategic interests demand that Vietnam emerge as a major regional player and India is well placed to help Hanoi achieve that objective. Just as China has used states in India’s periphery to contain India, Delhi should build states like Vietnam as strategic pressure points against China to counter it. With this in mind, India has been providing Vietnam with help in beefing up its naval and air capabilities.
If South China Sea is a disputed area for China and India should refrain from entering the fray so as to respect Chinese sensitivities, then India can rightfully ask China to do the same in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, an area recognised by all major powers as a disputed territory. Yet China has had no compunction in enlarging its military and economic presence in the region.
A common approach on the emerging balance of power is emerging with India and Vietnam both keen on reorienting their ties with the US as their concerns about China rise.
And a similar commonality of views is emerging among major powers on South China Sea disputes which will hopefully force China to moderate its maximalist position on this issue. India’s entry into the scene was much overdue. Now it should focus on building strategic partnerships with regional powers. Vietnam is a good place to begin this process.
