India's maritime interests

The Defence Ministry's reported reluctance to not engage in trilateral or quadrilateral naval exercises in the Indian Ocean with maritime partners such as the US, Japan and Australia, is not in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a strong India that makes its presence felt in the region without being apologetic about it.

Defence Ministry mandarins are apparently worried about the Chinese reaction to such an event. But China has not demonstrated similar sensitivity when it has gone about pursuing its own maritime interests, or when it is active in Pakistan in ways that New Delhi has found worrisome, or even when it blocks India's attempts in the United Nations to make Islamabad answerable for harbouring anti-India terrorists. It simply goes ahead and does what it believes are its ‘core concerns’. There is no reason why India should be over-sensitive to Beijing's beliefs with regard to the former's defence and strategic needs.

By conducting joint naval exercises with the US, Japan and Australia — all of whom have reservations over China's bellicosity in the Indian Ocean region as well as the South China Sea — India would not just be honing its naval skills but also sending a stern message that it has no qualms about teaming up with these countries to protect and preserve its national interest. With a no-nonsense Prime Minister and a Defence Minister who is far removed from the indecisive one that served during the UPA tenure, one had expected a paradigm shift in the country's maritime defence policy.

It is true that certain events in recent months have shown that the new Government means business. It had called off Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan after the Pakistani High Commissioner met separatist leaders prior to the dialogue to get their inputs. Weeks ago, the Government ordered a strike into Myanmar territory to flush out North-East militants. It has given a free hand to security and military personnel on the India-Pakistan borders to respond as strongly as is needed, without being bothered by the political repercussions, to any cross-border attack or breach of the ceasefire. This is why people had expected a more assertive India with regard to maritime security in the face of the Chinese offensive.

There is still the possibility that the Defence Ministry will re-look into the issue — and it should — and factor in the growing ties that China has begun to forge with Pakistan with regard to maritime security. Chinese submarines have docked in Pakistani ports and Beijing is pumping in enormous sums of money into building Pakistan's maritime infrastructure. The idea clearly is to constrain New Delhi in the Indian Ocean. It is easy for some experts to dismiss these fears as an ‘over-reaction', but history has a different story to narrate. We underestimated the Chinese intent which led to the 1962 debacle. We cannot repeat the mistake in the face of the growing China-Pakistan nexus.