Despite its historical and cultural links with Southeast Asia, India in its post-independence foreign policy largely tended to ignore the region. It was the end of the Cold War that brought this region back to the forefront of India’s foreign policy horizons. Since then, India’s “Look East” policy, which originally was primarily focused on trade and economics, has now attained a distinct security dimension.
As India’s economic linkages with various countries in the region have become more extensive, demands have grown for a gradual strengthening of security ties at a time of China’s rapid rise. Smaller states in the region could now look to India to act as a balancer in view of China’s growing influence amidst a broader leadership vacuum in the region, the Obama administration’s “Asia-Pacific pivot” notwithstanding.
But India needs to do more, than it has hitherto, to emerge as a serious player in the region. China’s yearly trade with Asean is as much as $400 billion, and it remains far better integrated into the area. Yet ruptures in China-Asean ties in recent years have provided India with openings. A resurgent India looking to base its foreign policy on predominantly economic considerations must recognize the fact that its brightest economic and strategic prospects lie eastwards, where the future development of the global economy is most likely.
With China-Asean ties under stress due to Beijing’s aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea, India has been trying to fill the void by emphasising its credentials as a responsible regional stakeholder. India has in this pursuit made a strong case for supporting not only freedom of navigation but also access to resources in accordance with international norms.
This has been repeatedly emphasized by India in statements issued from time to time by both foreign policy spokesmen as well as senior Indian naval officers. In recent years, the Indian Navy has increased its engagement with countries in the Southeast Asian region. The Indian Navy helped Sri Lanka and other neighbours after the 2004 December earthquake and tsunami, and worked closely with other navies in the protracted relief work. In one of the largest relief mobilizations that the Indian Navy had undertaken,
India’s credentials as a trustworthy regional player were burnished. This deployment also was a testing ground for the navy’s amphibious and force projection capabilities.
Indian warships have also guarded international vessels in the Malacca Strait and protected multilateral summits. There is also active collaboration in anti-piracy activities.
The Indian Navy has sunk a Thai trawler being used by pirates and has coordinated patrols with Indonesia. Under India’s “Look East” policy, India has made efforts to step up ties with Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Nowhere are these ties more clearly articulated than the growing co-operation between India and Vietnam, both in the economic as well as the security spheres. The recent visit by Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, India’s external affairs minister has emphasized these aspects. Bilateral trade ties, which stand at $8 billion, are sought to be boosted with more interactions between their businesspersons. In the field of tourism, both countries would look at their Buddhism circuit. Direct flights between India and Vietnam are set to take off from November with Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines to fly directly from New Delhi and Mumbai to Hanoi with a stopover at Bangkok. Both countries are planning to cooperate in the field of education, especially in primary education. The visit of President Pranab Mukherjee later in the year is likely to see some agreements between the two nations in the field of defence.
It is in the fields of both energy and defence where the underlying emphasis is clearly evident. Vietnam has urged India for greater involvement in defence co-operation and training as well as maintaining maritime safety, security and in the settlement of territorial disputes in the disputed South and East China Seas, even as India is preparing to expand its oil and gas exploration in the seas claimed by China.
Relations between China and Vietnam have been tense since Beijing installed a $1 billion oil rig in May this year in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, which is claimed by Hanoi. Both sides were locked in a bitter stand-off for a few months, and though China has withdrawn the oil rig, the tensions continue to simmer.
Hanoi has invited India to hunt for oil and gas in the disputed South China Sea. India is also "looking at the feasibility" of exploring five oil and gas blocks, which were offered last year to OVL, the overseas arm of ONGC. These five are in addition to the two blocks offered earlier to India.
India, on its part, has also made Hanoi the offer of a $100 million line of credit for the purchase of four offshore patrol vessels. India’s defence cooperation with Vietnam may largely be misconstrued as a counter-strategy to the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. However, with China’s "String of Pearls” strategy by engaging in maritime cooperation with Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, it is only obvious that India would want its footprint in South China Sea and Southeast Asia in general. India is also boosting its defence capabilities at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, neighbouring Southeast Asia.
China has voiced displeasure at the growing Indian naval presence in the region. This was further evidenced by the unpleasant and unprovoked incident in July 2011, when an Indian Navy vessel, INS Airavat, was contacted on the radio by the Chinese navy demanding that it depart “disputed waters in the South China Sea” after completing a port call in Vietnam. This was followed by the less belligerent but nonetheless provocative gesture of an Indian naval vessel, being closely shadowed for a considerable period by a Chinese naval vessel, while on its way from the Philippines to South Korea in June 2012.
Despite the fact that India does not share a contiguous maritime border with the South China Sea, its maritime interests in the region are well established. While not as vocal as the West, New Delhi has called for a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes and continued freedom of navigation. India has also pursued deepening maritime relations with several littoral states, notably Vietnam, with the Indian Navy gaining wide-ranging visiting rights and offering enhanced naval training.
The Indian Navy has sunk a Thai trawler being used by pirates and has coordinated patrols with Indonesia. Under India’s “Look East” policy, India has made efforts to step up ties with Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Nowhere are these ties more clearly articulated than the growing co-operation between India and Vietnam, both in the economic as well as the security spheres. The recent visit by Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, India’s external affairs minister has emphasized these aspects. Bilateral trade ties, which stand at $8 billion, are sought to be boosted with more interactions between their businesspersons. In the field of tourism, both countries would look at their Buddhism circuit. Direct flights between India and Vietnam are set to take off from November with Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines to fly directly from New Delhi and Mumbai to Hanoi with a stopover at Bangkok. Both countries are planning to cooperate in the field of education, especially in primary education. The visit of President Pranab Mukherjee later in the year is likely to see some agreements between the two nations in the field of defence.
It is in the fields of both energy and defence where the underlying emphasis is clearly evident. Vietnam has urged India for greater involvement in defence co-operation and training as well as maintaining maritime safety, security and in the settlement of territorial disputes in the disputed South and East China Seas, even as India is preparing to expand its oil and gas exploration in the seas claimed by China.
Relations between China and Vietnam have been tense since Beijing installed a $1 billion oil rig in May this year in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, which is claimed by Hanoi. Both sides were locked in a bitter stand-off for a few months, and though China has withdrawn the oil rig, the tensions continue to simmer.
Hanoi has invited India to hunt for oil and gas in the disputed South China Sea. India is also "looking at the feasibility" of exploring five oil and gas blocks, which were offered last year to OVL, the overseas arm of ONGC. These five are in addition to the two blocks offered earlier to India.
India, on its part, has also made Hanoi the offer of a $100 million line of credit for the purchase of four offshore patrol vessels. India’s defence cooperation with Vietnam may largely be misconstrued as a counter-strategy to the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. However, with China’s "String of Pearls” strategy by engaging in maritime cooperation with Burma, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, it is only obvious that India would want its footprint in South China Sea and Southeast Asia in general. India is also boosting its defence capabilities at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, neighbouring Southeast Asia.
China has voiced displeasure at the growing Indian naval presence in the region. This was further evidenced by the unpleasant and unprovoked incident in July 2011, when an Indian Navy vessel, INS Airavat, was contacted on the radio by the Chinese navy demanding that it depart “disputed waters in the South China Sea” after completing a port call in Vietnam. This was followed by the less belligerent but nonetheless provocative gesture of an Indian naval vessel, being closely shadowed for a considerable period by a Chinese naval vessel, while on its way from the Philippines to South Korea in June 2012.
Despite the fact that India does not share a contiguous maritime border with the South China Sea, its maritime interests in the region are well established. While not as vocal as the West, New Delhi has called for a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes and continued freedom of navigation. India has also pursued deepening maritime relations with several littoral states, notably Vietnam, with the Indian Navy gaining wide-ranging visiting rights and offering enhanced naval training.
By Sampath Pillai
Rear Admiral (retd) Sampath Pillai is a defence and strategic affairs analyst.
Rear Admiral (retd) Sampath Pillai is a defence and strategic affairs analyst.
sourche: http://www.irgamag.com/analysis/terms-of-engagement/item/10664-*india-and-southeast-asia-%E2%80%93-maritime-issues
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