Why do our Indian 'strategists' and commentators always get 'irked' at anything Pakistan or China does? We are mature enough militarily and diplomatically to stand on our own. This so called Chinese threat called the
'string of pearls' to hem in India is plain balderdash!
It is worth reflecting on where the string of pearls concept comes from.
Not from China and, although it is a fixation in some New Delhi policy circles, it is not an Indian strategic concept either. It appeared first in 2005 in the report, 'Energy Futures in Asia' prepared for the US Secretary of Defence by a Washington-based consultancy, Booz Allen Hamilton.
The United States over the past decade has been encouraging India to beef up its naval efforts in the Indian Ocean, as it finds its naval assets increasingly overstretched and sees India as a regional balance against China.
So perhaps the US is encouraging Indias paranoia, as part of its efforts to seek burden-sharing partners. In the past few years,
India has deepened security and diplomatic co-operation with the Seychelles, South Africa, Madagascar and Mozambique. Indias Maritime Doctrine, published in 2004, has shaped the countrys policy in the Indian Ocean.
It also has given particular focus to choke points at entrances to the ocean, such as the Mozambique Channel. According to the doctrine, control of the choke points could be useful as a bargaining chip in the international power game, where the currency of military power remains a stark reality.
To watch shipping movements along the Mozambique Channel choke point,
India opened its second military listening post on foreign soil in 2007 in northern Madagascar. India has also been in discussions with the Mauritian government about a lease of the Agalega Islands which would officially serve as a high-end tourist resort but could provide an airstrip to serve Indian surveillance aircraft.
In August 2009, as part of this strategy,
India boosted de-fence co-operation with the Maldives by agreeing to set up a network of 26 radars across the islands as well as an air station to conduct surveillance flights over the Mal-dives exclusive economic zone. Indian naval planners assume that the US military presence on Diego Garcia and the French naval base on La Réunion, buttress their efforts. Since 2001, India has conducted annual joint naval exercises with the French.
So although there is competition,
there is no sign that the Chinese are planning any American or French-style bases for a string of pearls of Chinese naval facilities stretching from southern China across the Indian Ocean. Their strategy appears benign, seeking agreements allowing access to facilities for re-supply. The United States, with its base in Diego Garcia, France and India will remain the major naval powers in the Indian Ocean for the foreseeable future.
India should therefore not be alarmed that the Chinese seek re-supply naval facilities in the Seychelles and Gwadar. This paranoia of the Chinese trying to intimidate India by establishing a 'String of Pearls' needs to end. Preventing disruption of sea lanes for international shipping in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea is vital for all our economies.
Cheers!
