US-India strategy document takes jab at South China Sea row
President Obama and Prime Minister Modi enjoy a cup of tea at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Presidential Palace in New Delhi, Jan. 26. (Photo/CFP)
The United States and India have signed a new strategic partnership agreement for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region that takes an unsubtle jab at China's territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region became official during US president Barack Obama's recent three-day visit to New Delhi, just four months after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi made his first official trip to Washington.
"To support regional economic integration, we will promote accelerated infrastructure connectivity and economic development in a manner that links South, Southeast and Central Asia, including by enhancing energy transmission and encouraging free trade and greater people-to-people linkages," the document said.
In addition, the document placed an emphasis on protecting regional security, with statements that appear to target China's aggression in the South China Sea, where it continues to be embroiled in bitter territorial disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines.
"We affirm the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea," the document said, without specifically mentioning China. "We call on all parties to avoid the threat or use of force and pursue resolution of territorial and maritime disputes through all peaceful means, in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea."
Last month, Beijing ignored a deadline given by an international court to make its official territorial claims in the South China Sea to counter the claim made by the Philippines that China is violating the convention. The Chinese government is rejecting the necessity and validity of arbitration on the basis that the subject matter of the claim is an issue of territorial sovereignty and goes beyond the scope of the convention.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded to Obama's visit at a press briefing, stating that improved US-India relations "could promote mutual trust and cooperation in the region." China's official Xinhua news agency, however, dismissed the trip as "more symbolic than pragmatic, given the longstanding division between the two giants, which may be as huge as the distance between them."
Indian and Western media have played up the significance of the "transformational" diplomatic visit, noting that Obama is the first US leader to visit India twice as president. On Monday, Obama also became the first US president to be invited as chief guest to India's "spectacular" annual Republic Day military parade, which celebrates the day India became a republic with an exhibition of Indian tanks, rocket launches and fighter jets.
Indian media even noted that while the Chinese navy has a numbers advantage, many believe that India has an advantage when it comes to the quality of their equipment, such as radar, sensors and anti-ship and land attack missiles.
Political analysts have also pointed to the seemingly blossoming personal friendship between the two leaders, noting that Modi repeatedly called Obama by his first name during the their meeting.
Ashley Tellis, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, believes Modi is playing a "triangular game" with the US and China. According to Tellis, while Modi wants to improve relations with Beijing, he remains concerned with China's maneuverings in the region, especially in the Indian Ocean and along the countries' shared border. On the other hand, he also wants "all of the benefits that come from being seen as working in close collaboration with the United States," including access to American technology, expertise and military cooperation, Tellis added.
Some analysts have gone even further, with Rahul Bedi from Jane's Information Group stating that India's goal over the next 20 years is to develop military capabilities that would enable them to take on China. However, according to Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Wilson Center, "India does not want to seem like it is banding together with the United States or with other countries to go against China."
Jin Canrong, vice president of the School of International studies at the Renmin University of China, told China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid that there is no need to be too concerned about India and the US growing closer. Since Modi came into power he has been trying to improve ties across the board, and the US is just one of his many targets, Jin said, adding that Obama is also trying to leave a positive diplomatic legacy before his second term expires.
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