India and China Battle for Maritime Influence

[mota bhai 2,675]

India ... has offered Vietnam a credit line of US$100 million to purchase four patrol boats that will undoubtedly be used to resist Chinese inroads in the South China Sea.

...

In June, [indian] Defense Minister A.K. Antony visited Singapore to reaffirm their long-standing bilateral defense ties.

...

Additionally ... Antony visited Thailand on the same June trip that brought him to Singapore. India and Thailand already conduct regular joint patrols together. During the trip, Antony proposed they expand their joint defense production, including India increasing its arms sales to Thailand.

...

In between his stops in Thailand and Singapore, Defense Minister A. K. Antony also visited Australia ... It was the first time an Indian Defense Minister had traveled to Australia, a country that is strategically placed and a potentially strong naval ally to India. Indeed, not surprisingly Antony and his Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith, pledged to strengthen ties between their militaries during the visit.

Then there is Japan. India has significantly strengthened ties to Japan in recent months even as Tokyo’s relationship with China has deteriorated over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. This can partially be attributed to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conscious courting of maritime democracies like India as a means of balancing against China.

...

Notably, along with the U.S. ... Japan, Australia, and Singapore were the countries that joined India for the 2007 Malabar Naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal that so spooked China.

...

India this week finally approved Myanmar’s long-standing request for help in building offshore-patrol vessels (OPVs).

...

India has in the past sold Burma everything from “islander maritime patrol aircraft and naval gun-boats to 105mm light artillery guns, mortars, grenade-launchers and rifles.” It also regularly hosts Burmese officers at its military academies. In March of this year the two navies conducted their first joint exercise in the Bay of Bengal.

...

One Chinese policy that is particularly alarming to both India and Myanmar and India is Beijing’s arms sales to Bangladesh, with which Burma has had a maritime dispute.

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Last week, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) signed a deal with the state-run Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) in which CCCC pledged to spend US$1.4 billion to build a “port city” around the Colombo harbor. Another Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering will open a new container port in the Colombo harbor next month, which it will maintain control over for the next 35 years. Chinese oil companies are also operating in the area.

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Seychelles Foreign Minister Jean-Paul Adam wrapped up an extended visit to China over the weekend. Although few details have been released about the visit, concern inside India that China is establishing a naval base in Seychelles has been so high that Defense Minister Antony recently felt the need to issue a statement denying a deal had already been struck.

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Perhaps most troubling from India’s perspective is China’s apparent offer to fund upgrades to Iran’s Chabahar Port, one of India’s long-standing pet projects and the last remaining viable port standing between China’s Gwadar Port in Pakistan and the Middle East.

These moves are already prompting a response from India ... Much to Washington’s chagrin, India began July by publicly calling Iran “critical” to its energy security. The two sides then worked out an agreement for Delhi to purchase Iranian oil all in rupees.

Delhi has also expedited discussions with the Iranian government for Indian businesses to be given the exclusive rights to develop Chabahar Port for 60-90 years. This comes despite Indian media outlets noting that the Chabahar Port does not have any “immediate commercial viability.”

These moves appeared to pay off when Iran’s President-Elect Hassan Rouhani stated, “Expansion of all-out relations with India will be a foreign policy priority for the next Iranian administration.”

http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/07/31/india-and-china-battle-for-maritime-influence/

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I read "bedtime" influence. That's more fun.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I read "bedtime" influence. That's more fun.

[Ban Hammer 13,586]

goooooo india!

[Pooky 3,836]

Good. Let the two of them have their own little Cold War and let the USA sit back and watch the fun goings on, for a change.

[X Factor 1,112]

Might be a way for population control for both of them

[Harsh_77 718]

Good. Let the two of them have their own little Cold War and let the USA sit back and watch the fun goings on, for a change.

IF that war ever happened do you think US is going to sit back and emjoy?

US has financial interest in both the countries.

[mota bhai 2,675]

IF that war ever happened do you think US is going to sit back and emjoy?

US has financial interest in both the countries.

There are very few countries the US does not have financial interests in.

Wars still happen.

[Karee 4,191]

IF that war ever happened do you think US is going to sit back and emjoy?

US has financial interest in both the countries.

I don't think the U.S. would take a side if that's what you mean. Unless one of them did something so blatantly aggressive and over the top to the other.

[Harsh_77 718]

There are very few countries the US does not have financial interests in.

Wars still happen.

That is true but with China and India they have much more, enough that it can impact the US economy directly.

I don't think the U.S. would take a side if that's what you mean. Unless one of them did something so blatantly aggressive and over the top to the other.

I agree they would not take side more they would play role of mediator, but to the original comment US is not going to sit back and enjoy.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Imagine all those blown out datacenters, oh the horror.

[Harsh_77 718]

Imagine all those blown out datacenters, oh the horror.

and production facilities in China

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

According to the liberals, the US would thrive in such a scenario, when products and services are all provided by well paid union members again as they celebrate the death of Walmart.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Of course, medical service would suffer in the US, when half the health workers in this country are repatriated back to India. All that would be left would be the Filipino nurses and the Mexican cleaning staff.

[Karee 4,191]

According to the liberals, the US would thrive in such a scenario, when products and services are all provided by well paid union members again as they celebrate the death of Walmart.

Yeah they don't realize that we'd just start getting our products and services from Cameroon or Angola.