India needs to do a balancing act

The veiled reference to China’s territorial claims, and a renewed commitment to freedom of navigation, contained in the joint statement issued by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been on the expected lines. So has been the Chinese response, in warning India against the American ‘trap’ and in its playing the Pakistan card while receiving Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif. China has thus issued India a double warning that, again, is only to be expected.

The Manmohan Singh Government was a bit subtle. But Modi has been explicit and aggressive in befriending China, but also setting parameters, where the friendly tone changes and Beijing is diplomatically old off. He had done that last September during his earlier Washington meeting with Obama and in Tokyo, after meeting Shinzo Abe. The Tokyo Declaration had referred to Indo-Japanese “shared commitment to maritime security, freedom of navigation and over-flight, civil aviation security,” with no mention of the South and the East China seas. For good measure, India reiterated its support to Vietnam when President Pranab Mukherjee visited. Coming on the eve of President Xi’s India visit, that was more stinging since China objected to India exploring for hydrocarbons in what Beijing considers a disputed part of South China Sea leased by Vietnam.

The bristling Chinese official response was that the disputes over the South China Sea should be worked out by “sovereign countries directly concerned through friendly consultations and negotiations,” adding: “A third party should not involve itself.”

Beijing was surprised then – now it is not. Its warnings reflect a deeper unease —it feels targeted. Hence, President Xi Jinping used the Republic Day greetings to President Pranab Mukherjee offering to lift the strategic cooperative partnership between China and India “to a higher level.”

China’s concerns are particularly sharp because the wording used by India and the US in the joint statement is stronger than any used by New Delhi till now in bilateral talks with other nations. This explains the unofficial warning that India should not fall into an American ‘trap’ to be made part of its Asian pivot.

Beijing’s worries are fundamentally rooted in the very mention of its specific spats in a statement India shared with the US, when it is convinced Washington’s Asia rebalance is targeted at China.

China’s disputes over islands and reefs in the South and East China Seas, with Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines have opened up opportunities for stronger economic and strategic ties between India and the region.

Following Obama’s India visit, it would seem India’s ‘Act East’ policy would work in tandem with the US’ rebalance to Asia. For the record, the US has said that it is not forging ties with India to ‘contain’ China. India, too, has made such assurances that it will not join any efforts aimed at “containing” China. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to repeat this message when she arrives in Beijing on Saturday. That is how the diplomatic cookie crumbles.

By: Mahendra Ved