China-US tension: What will be India's role in South China Sea?

Posted on 9th Jul 2020 by rohit kumar

Amid increasing tension between the US and China, the US has stepped up its activities in the South China Sea.

 

Two US Navy aircraft carriers conducted combat exercises in the South China Sea on Monday.

 

Rear Admiral James Kirk, commander of the USS Nimitz, told the news agency Reuters over the phone, "We saw him and he us."

 

China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the US has deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea so that it can demonstrate its strength and accused the US of trying to create a rift between the countries of the region.

 

This is not the first time that the United States and China have tried to show their strength in this area, but this time the situation is slightly different, the Corona epidemic has increased the tension between the United States and China and the United States constantly tries to pressure China. Has been doing.

 

According to Jaydev Ranade, president of the Center for China Analysis and Strategy, "China was saying that the US Navy had weakened due to the Corona epidemic, the US took the step to signal to China that its power had not diminished." And his warships exist in this area, "

 

Ranade further states, "At the same time, America also wants to show that the South China Sea is a neutral area and they can come there"

 

According to Ranade, tension has not increased much in the area yet. According to him, "Tension will increase when a Chinese ship is stopped or there is an attempt to stop the Chinese who are putting the defense system on the islands, now it has to be seen what happens next."

 

However, experts believe that the expectation of the case to grow is less in the coming times.

 

Professor Swarn Singh at JNU University, who is an expert on international affairs, says, “America has been doing this in the name of freedom of navigation in the past. This pretense is more, they do not fight. Apart from this, America is doing this in an attempt to hide its failures during Covid-19, elections are also this year and Trump wants to show that he is the only leader standing in front of China. ”

 

South China Sea dispute

This part of the sea, which lies between Indonesia and Vietnam, is spread over about 3.5 million square kilometers. China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have been claiming this. Hundreds of species of organisms are found in this sea area, inhabited by natural treasures.

 

There was not much tension about this area for a decade. But then China reached the South China Sea with a large number of digging vessels, bricks, sand, and gravel in the sea. He started a large-scale construction around a small sea strip with the help of sand, gravel, bricks, and concrete.

 

First, a port was created. Then the runway to land the planes. On seeing it, China prepared an artificial island in the South China Sea and made a military base on it.

 

China refused to accept the decision of an international arbitration of ownership on this small ocean.

 

America expects from India

After the Indo-China dispute in recent times, there has been a discussion that will India's role in the South China Sea dispute increase?

 

India considers the South China Sea as a neutral place. India believes that this neutrality should be maintained and it is not the sea of ​​any country.

 

Experts believe that India has come close to the US due to deteriorating relations with China in the recent past, but it is not correct to understand that India will play a very big role in the South China Sea.

 

According to Jaydev Ranade, "America sees India as a force, it will expect India to stay on its stand, this is also a kind of support, because China does not want that."

 

Swarn Singh says, "No country supports the US in patrolling in that area, once Britain gave it, but all the other countries only give in-principle consent to America." In a joint statement when Obama came to India in 2015, India said that it was committed to maintaining stability in the South China Sea. "

 

After this statement of China, anger was shown. After that, India never directly mentioned the issue by taking the name of China. Many times India has spoken of China's expansionism without naming it and has pointed towards the South China Sea.

 

India can still maintain this position. Experts believe that if the controversy escalates then the role of 'Quad' can be important.

 

What is Quad?

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUSID), also known as QUAD, is an informal political dialogue group between the USA, India, Japan, and Australia.

 

According to former diplomat Rajiv Dogra, "When China began to show its sovereignty over the South China Sea, everyone began to worry that by following the rules of the world, China would start doing its will. India, Japan, Australia are traded through this route. Quod is not an aggressive attitude, it is a meeting of the views of some countries that the world should run with rules and laws. Quod started with a positive mindset. "

 

But after starting in 2007, the quad remained inactive for the next 10 years. In the year 2017, once again the countries of the quad met.