By Danvir Singh
04 Sep , 2016
The Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi started a four-day tour on Sep 02, 2016, visiting Vietnam and later China. At Hanoi, Prime Minister Modi met President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and hold wide-ranging talks with the top leadership.
Today India is far more assertive than what it was a few years ago. India is being felt and heard across the South Asian region as reckonable regional power. Thus the visit of Indian Prime Minister to Vietnam assumes very high importance.
Vietnam being India’s most important strategic partner in the East, this visit will be keenly followed by China, given that Hanoi is also a party in the SCS dispute. Vietnam lays claim on maritime and energy resources of the SCC thus having serious dispute with China. Vietnam’s visit of Mr Modi is aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties, including defence, oil exploration, security and trade.
On September 3, the Prime Minister will leave for Hangzhou, China, from Vietnam in the evening to attend the G20 summit on September 4 and 5. And on the side lines will meet the Chinese President Xi Jinping discussing bilateral issues confronting the two Asian giants.
Why is this tour geopolitically so important? Has India finally broken out of the shackles of the Nehruvian curse, of being an inward looking, defensive and an apologetic nation?
To have a clearer picture of today we need to flip the pages into our near past. A past of not so long ago but of a few years down the lane. A quick scan would reveal that lots has changed over the past five to six years.
It was this same very India that had permitted mention of Baluchistan at Sharm-el-Sheik in 2009, literally conceding her meddling in Pakistan’s affairs. India stood apologetic.
It was this same India in 2013, that buckled under the Chinese pressure and withdrew invitation to Japan from participating in the annual Indo-US naval training manoeuvres, the Exercise Malabar.
Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives had gravitated towards China, while Pakistan was already it’s all weather friend and a strategic partner. India appeared literally encircled.
It was this very India in year 2013, seen by the world pussy footing, when the Chinese intruded into Depsang area of Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) on April 15 and camped in Indian territory for complete 21 days. This intrusion was to remind India it’s vulnerabilities on the LAC and a scuttle warning of sorts against confronting China in the SCC. The Indian Naval Chief on Dec 03, 2012 said that the Indian Navy will send force to protect our interests in the disputed waters of SCC. Unfortunately, the Indian establishment had tried hard to cover up and trivialise this breech on our sovereignty by comparing the intrusion it with an acne.
Scam riddled nation presented a very dismal picture to world. India’s neighbours had slipped into the Chinese basket. Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives had gravitated towards China, while Pakistan was already it’s all weather friend and a strategic partner. India appeared literally encircled.
India’s arch rival Pakistan got emboldened by each passing day. They continued to perpetrate terrorist strikes from Mumbai to Srinagar. India faced huge embarrassment when the Pakistani soldiers chopped the heads of two Indian soldiers on Line of Control on Jan 08, 2013.
Today India is the fastest growing economy the world. As per Goldman Sach’s Timothy Moe, “India, despite a rough start to the year for markets and limited progress on headline reforms, will remain one of the strongest growth stories in the region”. He views the current cyclical recovery – coupled with improvements in the ease of doing business that have largely flown “beneath the radar” – as positive signs for India’s long-term growth and corporate earnings environment.
A nationalist government at the centre having massive mandate has brought with it an era of stability, strength and self-confidence. India has put her relations with countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka back on track while making deep inroads into Myanmar.
India and Japan have agreed to boost their trilateral security co-operation with United States.
Today India’s relations with UAE have been elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Indian relations with Saudi Arabia continue to grow and the two nations are strong and close. The Indian Prime Minister was conferred Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour during his visit this year.
India and Iran have got into an agreement to develop Chabahar port. As per the Washington Post, this agreement represents something of a strategic coup for India.
India is helping develop the Chabahar Port, which will give it access to the oil and gas resources in Iran and the Central Asian states. By so doing, India hopes to compete with the Chinese, who are building Gwadar Port, in Pakistani Baluchistan.
Along with Bandar Abbas, Chabahar is the Iranian entry port on the North-South corridor. A strategic partnership between India, Iran and Russia is intended to establish a multi-modal transport link connecting Mumbai with St Petersburg, providing Europe and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia access to Asia and vice versa.
In the East, India and Japan have taken their biggest steps to deepen strategic ties. Today India, Japan and the US are discussing cooperation on maritime security amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South and East China Seas as well as the Indian Ocean. India and Japan have agreed to boost their trilateral security co-operation with United States. Japan is also eager to partner with India and Iran to develop Chabahar port, this move itself will be a major game changer in the region.
…an influential Chinese think tank warned that Beijing will have “to get involved” if any Indian “plot” disrupts the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in restive Balochistan.
Today, India and Australia share security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region. These strategic partners have held joint naval exercises in 2015 with an intention of strengthening their strategic partnership.
Under the rapidly changing geopolitical realities, defined by the assertive China, Act East Policy has imparted greater vigour to India’s ties with ASEAN. This can easily be gauged by the fact that the top leadership of 9 out of 10 ASEAN states have travelled to India over last 24 months. They definitely look at a bigger role for India in the regional security and stability.
It is therefore not surprising at all that the Chinese are feeling the heat. As per the Times of India report of Sep 02, the State-run Chinese media has indicated that Beijing is extremely unhappy with India’s strategic shift in dealing with Pakistan – by talking about Pakistan’s atrocities in Balochistan and in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
Also earlier this week, an influential Chinese think tank warned that Beijing will have “to get involved” if any Indian “plot” disrupts the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in restive Balochistan.
The Chinese think tank, the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, is among China’s most powerful, and is affiliated with the country’s ministry of state security. A researcher there said India’s growing military ties with the US as well as its changed attitude on the disputed South China Sea are ringing alarm bells for China. State-run Chinese media has also indicated Beijing is extremely unhappy with India’s strategic shift in dealing with Pakistan – by talking about Pakistan’s atrocities in Baluchistan and in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
PM Modi has also announced a new line of credit of $500 million for Vietnam to facilitate deeper defence cooperation.
Today India is far more assertive than what it was a few years ago. India is being felt and heard across the South Asian region as reckonable regional power. Thus the visit of Indian Prime Minister to Vietnam assumes very high importance.
Vietnam lies at the heart of India’s vision for Southeast Asia as also its ‘Act East’ policy. India is in the process of boosting its defence exports to Vietnam. As stated by Secretary (East) Preeti Saran on September 01 in a press briefing, “Vietnam is an important strategic partner to India and central pillar of the Act East Policy.” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s Vietnam visit in the first half of 2016 may also be seen in this context. With the attempt to move the bilateral defence cooperation to up by a few notches, the visit was geared towards enhancing “the defence industry networking, information sharing and exploration of possibilities for partnerships and collaborations between the two countries.”
Modi is likely to discuss extending India’s defence exports to Vietnam, to include an agreement for supplying four offshore patrol vessels to Vietnamese military under the framework of the $100-million line of credit extended during Nguyen Tan Dung’s 2014 India visit. Discussions on the selling of BrahMos missile would also be high on high agenda.
The Voice of America reports,” Hanoi’s need for bolstered maritime defences against an increasingly assertive China in the territorially disputed South China Sea is expected to be high on the agenda when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Vietnam later this week”.
India seemingly has come a long way, probably out of the Nehruvian curse.
Modi stepped on Vietnam’s soil on Friday at the time when the question of South China Sea has come up in a big way.
First day of his visit, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mr Modi signed 12 agreements with Vietnam on Saturday after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc. These agreements ranged from health to defence and space. PM Modi has also announced a new line of credit of $500 million for Vietnam to facilitate deeper defence cooperation.
Along with setting a bilateral trade target of $15 billion by 2020, the Prime Minister also sought facilitation of ongoing Indian projects and investments in Vietnam. India has also granted $5 million to set up a software park in the country.
India seemingly has come a long way, probably out of the Nehruvian curse.
© Copyright 2016 Indian Defence Review
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