There are two lessons from all these developments for India. One is that China will be central to any new regional or global arrangement. The other is that Beijing’s new political clout comes from its growing economic strength and military power and not from ideological posturing.

Naval CBMs

After a series of tense incidents between their navies in the South China Sea, Beijing and Washington have underlined the importance of negotiating bilateral maritime confidence-building measures.

At the tenth round of China-US defence consultations last week in Beijing, the two sides decided to hold talks in July to discuss preventing incidents at sea, including ones in which Chinese vessels have jostled US navy ships in waters off China’s coast.

The two sides, however, remain far apart on the source of their maritime tension in the South China Sea. While the US emphasises its rights under the principle of the freedom of navigation, China insists that those rights do not include the option of surveillance.

The Indian foreign office and the navy have every reason to follow this debate between Washington and Beijing on the rights and limitations on the maritime freedoms.

As the Indian navy heads out into the South China Sea and the Western Pacific Ocean and the Chinese navy begins to operate in the Indian Ocean, there is bound to be new maritime friction between the two Asian giants. It makes sense then for the two sides to begin a substantive dialogue on maritime and naval issues.

... contd.