Friday, July 3, 2015

China's strategy of containing India.

China's dubious stand on issues, vis-a-vis India, has been discussed in this forum earlier too. Not only does it smack of double standards, but also their oft repeated statement that their actions are not aimed against India sounds hollow. Their top leadership has come to realise that in Narendra Modi, as the Indian PM, they've found their match. He projects a tough image, is willing to take forward the bilateral relations on the economic path and then to veer around to finding a lasting solution to the vexed border issue.

The frequent border stand offs seem to have become a thing of the past. Our concerns, apprehensions and the hurt - the way it behaved in the United Nations recently - are being conveyed to the Chinese without hesitation. The difference in our approach has been that while we accept China as our competitor - because Asia requires both of us to be equally strong and prosperous - China seems to believe that it's the sole representative, despite its public posturing otherwise. There in lies its deviousness!

To cite an example, let's see the manner in which it has acquired influence around the Indian subcontinent and has been trying to achieve a sort of supremacy in the Indian ocean. The 14 ports, listed below where its presence is palpable, can give even a novice lots of doubts about its ultimate intentions:-

          * Hong Kong          (China)
          * Sanya                   (   "    )
          * Woody Island      (In the disputed islands of South China Sea)
          * Spratley Island     (                             "                                    )
          * Kampong Savom ( Cambodia)
          * Isthmus of Kra     (Thailand)
          * Cocoa Island        (Myanmar)
          * Kayukpew Sitwe (Myanmar)
          * Chittagong           (Bangladesh)
          * Hambantota         (Sri Lanka)
          * Marao                   (Maldives)
          * Gwadar, Pasni      (Pakistan)
          * Lamu                    (Kenya)
          * Port Sudan            (Sudan).

China has said that its area of influence, through these ports, is to address regional(?) security concerns, the main characteristics being:-
     
          (a) Chinese aim at gaining significant influence among the littoral nations of the Indian Ocean
          (b) Continuous presence of naval warships and submarines. A robust trade route becomes
                the catalyst.
          (c) A security cordon from the Chinese coast to the coast of Sudan. That all the countries
               within this arrangement are developing, is incidental!

The United States has dubbed it, "The String of Pearls!"


Tailpiece.

There's only one way to counter this effectively. India needs to become a robust maritime nation with a powerful, blue water navy, capable of deployment at any point of our choosing and at a time frame that would be decided by us!

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