China and India need to talk, navy to navy, to prevent Indian Ocean hostilities
Zhou Bo says formal confidence-building measures to reduce fear of attack between the navies of China and India are something both sides should consider, as Beijing’s large investment in its navy may lead to more encounters in the Indian Ocean in the future
The rub is how China might possibly convince India that the Chinese military presence in India’s traditional sphere of influence is not necessarily to India’s detriment. This will take time, but is not impossible.
There is no indication that an ever-stronger Chinese navy wants to challenge India’s navy in the Indian Ocean. Given China’s sensitivity to its own sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, China can be expected to pay equal regard to those of India.
In fact, China and India have joined others in fighting against piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin since the end of 2008. And after the Indian Navy rescued the Chinese ship MV Full City when it came under attack by pirates in 2011, China expressed its thanks.
Now that confidence-building measures have been introduced to ensure overall peace and tranquility in the border areas, it is time now for Beijing and New Delhi to think about such measures at sea. The chances of encounters between the Chinese and Indian naval vessels are on the rise, be it in the Indian Ocean or in the South China Sea, therefore mutually recognised rules are needed to reduce the chance of misperception and miscalculation and – in the event of an incident – to prevent it from escalating.
Watch: China's largest ever naval review in April 2018
Both navies have agreed to observe the code, but they haven’t discussed how it might be applicable to them to ease a conflict. Furthermore, they need to do familiarisation exercises to make sure sailors follow good seamanship.
Should these happen, it will be a sea change for the Chinese navy in that this is the first time the Chinese military practises a code of conduct with others in other oceans than the Pacific. This would be a big step forward for a “world class” navy of tomorrow. And it is no less significant for India, which vows to become a “net security provider” in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
Zhou Bo is an honorary fellow with PLA Academy of Military Science
Correction: An earlier version of the article stated that the border areas between China and India were in Jammu and Kashmir. This is wrong. The error was introduced during the editing process.