US Defence Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
India may have firmly rejected the US proposal some time back of jointly patrolling South China sea saying that it does so only under the auspices of UN, however with China vetoing the Indian proposal in UN of proscribing Maulana Azhar Masood, the head honcho of Pakistan sponsored jihadi organization Jaish Mohammad, responsible for the Pathankot Air Base attack of 02 Jan this year as also the Chinese military activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) may have acted as the last straw for India to continue to remain neutral to the China-Pakistan military nexus developing against it . By agreeing to sign in very near future the long pending Logistic Exchange Memorandum Of Agreement with US on this Tuesday the 12 April 16, India has now thrown open its cards indicating which way the wind is blowing.
Till now Indian political masters were very wary of annoying China so they have been following wait and watch policy. China took full advantage of this…
American Defense Secretary Aston Carter on his second visit to India within one year and Indian defense minister Manohar Parrikar on 12 April 16 in a joint press conference have stated that India has agreed to sign the long pending US proposal “Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement” which will enable both countries to use their air and naval bases for their military assets in terms of rest, refueling and maintenance in both the times of war and peace. This proposal was put forward by the US long time back after it decided to challenge the Chinese military perfidy in South China Sea which china wants to control as its own lake. However despite having signed The Indo-American nuclear deal, the Cong led UPA Government then in power in order not to annoy china had resolutely said no to this Foundation Agreement under rather a lame excuse that it will compromise India’s strategic autonomy. Maybe at that time the China –Pakistan military nexus against India was not so pronounced. With china investing in Pakistan 46 Billion dollars now under the aegis of China-Pakistan economic corridor which will connect china mainland to Pakistan’s Gwador port located on the mouth of gulf of homruz in Arabian Sea via Karakorum pass India now faces a serious problem.
Till now Indian political masters were very wary of annoying China so they have been following wait and watch policy. China took full advantage of this and the message which has gone to the Asian countries, most of them having sea disputes with China ,that India is a lame duck country and will not stand up to Chinas bullying. In the last three years right under the nose of mighty American navy and against the opposition of Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan and Malaysia with whom China has the island disputes in South China Sea, china first constructed seven artificial islands then covered them with airfields and military installations. Then it set up missile batteries there and now over the horizon covering radars. In other words it now militarily fully dominates the South China Sea. So far china has not demanded requirement of its permission by other countries to overfly South China Sea or operate in it but soon it will do so. It has already given radio warning to one of the Indian vessels sailing out of Vietnam. China is annoyed with India because despite china’s veiled warning to India to not to explore oil in South China Sea in coalition with Vietnam, Modi government had boldly disregarded it.
India which currently has 152 battle ships and wants to increase the size of its Navy to 200 ships if also joins this US idea then this combination becomes a formidable force which any day will make China think 100 times before challenging it.
Having annexed Tibet, China sits all along our 4000 km long northern boundary which earlier was Tibet, but now China, thanks to Indian politicians who allowed China to take over Tibet in fifties without even a whimper. Then in Sixties Pakistan illegally handed over to China the 5000 sq kms Shaksgam valley in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. This has enabled China to link Pakistan with main land China through Karakoram Highway. Now from Karakorum highway China, by an investment of 46 billion dollars in China-Pak Economic Corridor, China is linking Karakoram highway to Gwadar port of Pakistan in Arabian Sea via 3000 km rail and road route through Baluchistan province of Pakistan.
In other words within a few years India will stand encircled from North and West by this China –Pak nexus. In the name of safe guarding against pirates china is already patrolling Indian Ocean. It has developed the Gwadar port in Pakistan as a military base where Chinese military vessels will be docked. China also has started developing another naval base in Djibouti islands in Indian Ocean. In addition China is giving to Pakistan nuclear missile capable eight diesel-electric submarines in next few years’ time to patrol India’s western sea board and even dominate it. In Sri Lanka also China is likely to develop Hambantota port as sea base. In other words china has made it clear that it also wants to dominate Indian Ocean.
Chinese domination of Indian Ocean from where 65% of its trade passes will be disaster for us. Under all circumstances India must dominate Malacca strait which can choke Chinese goods passing through it. While China was completing our encirclement, as is our way of functioning we have just been waiting and watching this development without lifting a finger. So much so that our 19 strong submarine fleet is now down to just 13 rickety ones while China alone has 65 submarines. If we add current five submarines of Pakistan then this figure goes to 70. Fortunately for us America is the only challenger to Chinas expanding military might. Under its new policy US intends to place its maritime focus in Asia –Pacific region by placing 60% of its naval fleet here.
India which currently has 152 battle ships and wants to increase the size of its Navy to 200 ships if also joins this US idea then this combination becomes a formidable force which any day will make China think 100 times before challenging it. Add to this Japan and Australia then China does not have any chance. In other words this Logistic pact with US does not curb our strategic autonomy rather it provides us with an option to counter developing China-Pakistan military nexus against us.
This pact which India and US will sign does not entail stationing of US troops in India, neither it behooves on India to support US military campaign elsewhere.
In actual fact Indo-US Logistics Exchange memorandum is the logical culmination of strategic dialogue with the US which, whether it was Bajpai Government or Manmohan Singh government, they all have been pursuing but could not bring it to fruition due to our timidity against China. In last four years America has emerged as our largest arms supplier. Since 2007 it has bagged arms contracts worth 14 billion dollars. So far with America we had buyer-seller relationship in all arms deals.
Now when we have decided to make these arms indigenously in make in India in defense which requires technology transfer, No country in the world, leave aside America will transfer its technology to India without some sort of strategic partnership. This is where this pact helps us a lot. This pact which India and US will sign does not entail stationing of US troops in India, neither it behooves on India to support US military campaign elsewhere. It also does not mandate India to do joint sea patrolling with US. Besides India can refuse access to its bases any time it wants so where India is strategic autonomy compromised? It is basically a security partnership and not an alliance.
All in all it is good that India under the current Modi Government is shedding its hypocrisy and is working in the national interest first policy. If China gets annoyed or Pakistan gets its fits of epilepsy by we siding with US, Japan and Australia so be it .We should be prepared to face all consequences. What is of urgent requirement for India is for our political masters to get one window military-strategic advice direct from the armed forces and not by the clueless babus straddling the ministry of defense?
The recent media news that Modi government is very soon going to create a permanent chairman of chief of the staff committee who will apart from his other duties will also give single window advice to our government on all matters military is a good move. Also what is very important for us now is that we should go all out to modernize our armed forces. The China-Pakistan military nexus is deep and they will do everything possible to keep us de-stabilized .Only lean and mean armed forces in our possession will keep them at bay.
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Excellent article
India must shed its timidity in handling China who is always going one step ahead in surpasswing us in strategic field. Now the time has come to come over the reservations over not hurting China who is out there to challenge us in all side. I hope under Modi’s leadership and our decisive Defence Minister the things will be changed for better. Now time is come for India to be decisive and assertive vis a vis China.
INDIAN HINDUU BALLS HAVE NO WATER AGAINST SMALL PAKISTAN SO NOW BEGGING HELP FROM AMERICA> AMERICA ALREADY D STABILIZED MIDDLE EAST NOW WANT NEW DESTRUCTION IN ASIA WITH THESE MOST FRAUD NATION(GANGA JUMANI HINDUOS)?
Good luck to India, World’s Largest Democracy despite having World’s Largest Slave population by far, in its path to becoming the World’s Greatest Superpower, under the nose of the World’s Greatest Exceptional Hegemony!
India will eventually learn the hard way, that nothing truly Great can ever come with convenience…. 😉 (y)
YiJuin you make a good mouth piece of your government as usual. You have said nothing new here – these are the ravings and ranting’s of China’s propaganda machine. I am amazed at your lack of knowledge about India calling it a slave population. Its actually laughable. You are just a computer operator in your country’s propaganda cell.
You are illegal occupiers of Tibet and Sinkiang. You have brutalized their people. You have brought your dog eating culture along with your han population to over run these places. China has forcibly moved people from mainland China to Tibet and Sinkiang. Your people do not have the right to elect their representative’s – they are ruled by coercion and by brutal force. Give the Chinese people a voice and then you will understand where you stand. You are not economically well off. You undercut prices by using conscripted labour in your factories. Its slave labour. There is no freedom in China. Your nation is a nation of Slaves and not India. Once the Chinese people are free that day China will break up into many countries. Even Hong Kong doesn’t like you all. This is where you stand.
Defending Colonial Legacy in the name of Independence:
“Divide & Rule” tactic employed by the Colonial Powers whose terms China is forced to accept:
China vs India – “McMahon Line” agreed between Tibet and the British empire, bypassing China (according to Wiki) when Tibet did not even exercise full authority.
China vs Vietnam – Large part of the dispute between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea is Vietnamese territorial claims based on illegal French Colonial possessions incorporated into French-controlled Vietnam before its independence.
China & Japan – Administrative rights to the Chinese territory of Diaoyu island group robbed by Japan near the end of the Qing era is handed over to Japan unilaterally by the US without any legitimate basis.
If illegitimate Colonial possessions were used as a basis for territorial claims by India and Vietnam among others, what justifications had they in seeking independence?
In China’s case, it isn’t a case of fighting for independence from the Qing dynasty. China is pretty much a continuous civilization.
Even the capital of the vast Mongol empire under Kublai Khan was based in Beijing. If Vietnam and India were justified in their territorial claims, didn’t China have more legitimacy to claim the entire territory under Mongol rule since Beijing is today still the capital city of China? China did not seek independence from Beijing. 🙂
According to “The Diplomat” article, the inter-ministry meeting will have to weigh the benefits of accepting the generous financing offer against India’s ongoing disputes with China, particularly over Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. The notion of accepting Chinese investment could additionally cause national identity issues in India as well.
“Generally, Indian leaders have pitched India as a rising power on the caliber of China. China for its part makes its largest investments in infrastructure in poor, developing countries. For India, accepting Chinese financing could cause a perception problem.”
Given the current UPA government’s electoral concerns, this could play a factor in determining the fate of the financing offer.
India has its pride and China certainly respects that. All I can say is, luckily, China had Deng Xiaoping who made the famous “Black cat-White cat” statement. Good luck, India! I hope you Make It, in India.
Who is the one truly with a small mind here? Whatever happened to Modi’s election promise of bringing substantive economic development to India? You may have your pride, but do your hundreds of millions of starving poor?
So, what do all the aforementioned prove?
Is India really combating terrorism or hijacking the UN to blow up this matter in the hope of naming and shaming China and Pakistan because it just can’t stand the sight of this giant neighbor that has been grabbing all the economic limelight and the dispute of Kashmir being a constant sore in the eye? 🙂
Check this out: http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/china-offers-to-finance-30-percent-of-indian-infrastructure-spending-through-2017/
According to the cute Indian logic, Chinese investments are unwelcome in the following countries for reasons:
Sri Lanka – India’s backyard, Pakistan – terrorist country which is Indian adversary, India – Indian pride hinged on rivalry with China. In short, China is not welcomed to invest in all that have something concerned with India, friends and foes alike. Yes, and they include India itself. Probably, Chinese investments within China also would present a potential threat to India.
What is one thing common in the above examples? China is involved. 🙂
Chinese investments in developing Pakistan will help in the modernization of its economy, stabilizing the delicately balanced political landscape and thus forestalling possible degeneration of the environment from spiraling out of control.
Does India fancy a full-blown failed state just next door to generate even more terrorists?
China is willing to do its utmost under reasonable terms to accommodate the legitimate interests of all countries despite the sharp differences…It never supports Indian Maoist causes, despite Mao being their apparent source of inspiration. Why? Are these the actions of a bully?
Before you speak, please get the following 2 facts:
Financial World Order: The BRICS Bank, despite being headquartered in Shanghai and China being the principal contributor to its funding, is headed by an Indian. Who can credibly represent the voices of emerging countries in the World Bank and IMF that are controlled by the US today?
Territorial border disputes between China and India: Despite China scoring a resounding victory in the 1962 border war, it unilaterally withdrew its troops behind the Line of Actual Control on the Eastern sector after the war. China isn’t working to sever the entire eastern portion of India from the rest by choking the bottleneck between Nepal and Bangladesh.
Then, I read this, “It wasn’t China, but Nehru who declared 1962 war: Australian journalist Neville Maxwell”: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/It-wasnt-China-but-Nehru-who-declared-1962-war-Australian-journalist-Neville-Maxwell/articleshow/33094229.cms
I see an exploitative nature in Indian diplomacy, which may become a hurdle to building trust and credibility in Sino-Indian partnership.
2 stark examples stand out: Nepal blockade and 1962.
Nepal blockade happened only not long after a devastating earthquake, sparking a humanitarian crisis in the Himalayan neighbor.
And, under what conditions was the 1962 war fought?
Again, China was left exposed in the South, having to withstand intense Soviet pressure looming over its northern border while experiencing a great famine that saw tens of millions starved to death. Add to that, direct American military involvement in the Vietnam War.
India’s intermediate foreign policy objective is clear and simple – “Outright” domination of its neighborhood which possibly includes the Indian Ocean, echoing America’s Monroe Doctrine.
Problem is, China is its neighbor too and huge.
First of all, let’s not forget that the Chinese made the greatest sacrifices spilling tons of blood and piling heaps of bones to contain the invading Imperial Japanese army during World War 2 which would otherwise put India at grave peril.
Yet today, the Indian leadership is cozying up with Neo-Fascist Abe who has been repeatedly justifying Imperial Japan’s wartime aggression and holocaust against the Chinese and much of the people throughout the Asia Pacific, despite modern Japan being a hotbed for Far-Right extremists where leaders make annual Yasukuni visits to honor war criminals as national heroes.
Any idea how many Japanese butchers of WW2 have gone scot-free until today? And, China isn’t even making a fuss to get them indicted.
So, why is India repeatedly pressing hard on China and Pakistan? Was it just these 2 at fault?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-blocks-Chinas-bid-to-save-Pakistan-on-terror-finance-scrutiny/articleshow/47873563.cms
From this article, we can see that according to sources in the government, India, with the support of allies like the US, managed to derail China’s bid which was backed by Australia to shield Pakistan on terror financing.
And, how about Indian complicity in Pakistani terror?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32604137
Mind you, most Islamic terrorists were jointly supported by the Saudis and the Americans to counter the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Now, ISIL has also sprung up due to their support to counter Iran and Syria. Why didn’t India pick on either of them? 🙂
And, hasn’t China been cooperative in combating terror?
http://tribune.com.pk/story/832183/china-russia-back-india-on-un-terror-resolution-targeting-pakistan/
Great! India is biting the bait. 😉
Judging from Indian media reports, I guess much more Indians hate China and Pakistan.
So, that’s the winning card for the US to exploit. Among members of BRICS and SCO, India is always the “weakest link” to be broken.
“Divide and Rule” has always been the mantra of US foreign policy.
And, India is enjoying living in this illusion that it will be able to dominate its South Asian neighborhood and the entire Indian Ocean, with the blessing of the US.
However, OBOR will not be disrupted, despite the daunting challenges it is facing. The ancient Silk Road wasn’t forged in comfort and convenience too.
The US will eventually contain India, for China, with the infiltration of its Trojan Horse.
Now tell me, which Superpower has the US groomed thus far?
Japan? South Korea? UK? Canada? Australia? Russia? Eastern European countries following the collapse of the Soviet Union? 😉
This is hardly anything to cheer about. It is a dangerous protend and a confession of Indian confusion and weakness. Pakistan is part of two entirely different axis. First, the US-NATO-Sunni Axis that has actively supported and propped it up through the Seato and Afghanistan days till the present and into the foreseeable future. Pakistan is also, through China, a member of the Russo-Chinese alliance that the US created by escalating the Wliiam Lewinsky Clinton begat Second Cold War in Ukraine. Pakistan is very much a US-China proxy and cat’s paw to “contain” India as of now. US influence, and Saudi wealth gave Pakistan its first Nuclear bombs, Chinese collaboration have upgraded Pakistan’s weaponry and weapons technology with modern fighter aircraft, tactical nukes and missiles as well as a commitment of “stealth” capability. In parallel, Obama, in November 2015, threw a Billion Dollars worth of weaponry including aircraft to deliver Pakistan’s nuclear war heads deep into Indian territory as well as attack choppers for continuing the brutal oppression of Balochistan with Chinese assistance. This, after Obama abused Indian hospitality in January 2015 by starting off his “tolerance” chorus girls obligated to the White Hice or Sunni Petro Dollars in one way or another. Underlying all this, of course, is India’s growing vulnerability arising from its implacable enemy since inception. The “Reservations-Extortion Raj begoten by India’s social engineering Constitution that enshrined inequality under law, exceptions to the rule of law and “Many Nations” to condemn India to a perpetual state of low intensity civil war that has seen India collapse from a great power in the 1940s and 1950s to the “wannabe” nation of today.