India-ASEAN exercise a big signal

Military cooperation between India and the ASEAN nations sailed forward over the past week with the two sides conducting the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME). It was last year that the two sides upgraded their 30-year-long ties to that of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and decided to hold a maritime war drill. That decision came amid growing Chinese belligerence vis-à-vis its neighbours, not only along its land borders but also in vital seas and waterways including the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the Taiwan Straits. The just-concluded AIME war games involved two phases – the Harbour Phase took place at Changi Naval Base from May 2-4, and the ‘Sea Phase’ in the South China Sea on May 7-8. That the multilateral naval exercises took place in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is significant.

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The ASEAN countries and the international community are deeply concerned over China’s sweeping territorial claims, which include virtually all South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters. Not only has Beijing ignored the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling dismissing China’s expansive claims but it has also gone ahead and built artificial islands in the sea with a view to strengthening its claims. Additionally, Chinese naval and fishing vessels make forays into the territorial waters of littoral countries. With tensions rising, the possibility of a confrontation looms. The ASEAN as a grouping as well as its member-states individually have preferred a cautious approach and sought to balance between China and the US on security matters. That ASEAN engaged in wargames with India, a country that is already locked in a three-year-long military stalemate with China along its disputed border, is important as it signals a willingness for military cooperation vis-a-vis Chinese belligerence in the South China Sea zone of conflict.

China responded promptly to the joint naval drill. Even as the exercises were in progress, the People’s Liberation Army Navy dispatched at least eight maritime militia ships. This was, no doubt, aimed at intimidating ASEAN and India. Beijing can be expected to put more pressure on countries at the bilateral level. Participating countries must stand by each other to resist Chinese bullying.

Although India and ASEAN have much to gain from greater cooperation, the relationship has moved at a snail’s pace. While ASEAN’s wariness over drawing Chinese ire and apprehensions over India’s domination are to blame to some extent, Indian tardiness in prioritising its Look East and Act East policies, too, is to blame. Opportunities for cooperation on shared concerns over shared threat perceptions are opening. India must not let these opportunities slip away.