S China Sea control: Others question Beijing,wary India tests the waters

India it is emboldened enough to ask: 'Who owns South China Sea?'

India may not have openly agreed with Philippines and Vietnam over Beijings increased assertion over the South China Sea but it is emboldened enough to ask: Who owns South China Sea?

This question itself,government officials reckon,can irk Beijing. So Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have to navigate some rough waters at the sixth East Asia Summit that kicks off tomorrow in Bali in the backdrop of aggressive posturing by the United States. Just ahead of the meet,the US promised to help Philippines with a second warship next year. Singhs aides say the situation is in a flux giving credibility to questions of ownership of the oil-rich sea raised by Philippines,Vietnam,Taiwan and Malaysia.

India has a strategic interest in the South China Sea routes given that 40 per cent of its trade with the United States is with the US West coast.

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Singh is expected to touch upon the subject of these routes in his bilateral with US President Barack Obama. Indias efforts at exploring oil in two Vietnam blocks ran into rough weather with China. But it will still be a while before India recalibrates its position on the South China Sea. We are closely watching the situation unfold, is all that New Delhi can say for now.

We didnt say whose water it is. We,however,support rights of passage and welcome discussions and call for peaceful negotiations, said an official.

Officials said China would rather deal with disputes over the South China Sea bilaterally with South East Asian countries than take them to a commission. But clearly,some countries see the US as an effective counterweight to Chinas ambitions.

‘Nitish Kumar a remote-controlled CM’: Congress hits back at NDA jibes

India4 hr ago

Reacting to the NDA's barbs and jibes, the Congress launched a scathing attack at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that votes to the JD(U) would eventually be credited to the BJP and that Nitish Kumar was merely a "remote-controlled Chief Minister".

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