Why India’s maritime interests are closer to China than the US
- Like India, China does not accept arbitration on all disputes and is concerned with foreign military activities in its EEZ
- Expediency might sell in the short term for India, but it seldom pays off in the long run and, worse still, it might backfire
India and the United States have been part of the chorus chanting about the “free and open Indo-Pacific” in recent years, but they are not birds of a feather flocking together. The decision to challenge India’s EEZ suggests that Washington does not consider millions of square kilometres of water in the Indian Ocean “free and open”.
Otto von Bismarck is famously reported to have said, “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) is probably the longest sausage ever made. It was negotiated for nine years, and understandably compromises were made and ambiguities that could be flexibly interpreted were found.
06:24
Explained: the history of China’s territorial disputes
A simple question arises. If the convention is good, why hasn’t the US ratified it? If it is not good, why would the US challenge others in the name of it?
But when Delhi mimics Washington to tout the “free and open Indo-Pacific”, it almost has a comedic effect. India has more in common with China than with the US when it comes to international maritime law.
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Philippine coastguard sends strong warning to Chinese vessels during South China Sea patrol
Like India, China is concerned with foreign military activities in its EEZ. China has criticised America’s high intensity and large scale close-in reconnaissance. China and India are not alone. More than 20 countries in the world have restrictions on foreign military activities in their EEZs, to varying degrees.
China’s response ranges from protests and ship-to-ship warnings to interceptions, particularly when American ships enter into the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters off Chinese rocks and islands in the South China Sea. There have been a number of dangerous encounters at sea.
03:23
The South China Sea dispute explained
I once asked a senior American naval officer at an international conference how China and the US might prevent accidents that neither wants in the South China Sea. Without hesitation he said, “The Chinese ship commander can say whatever he wants, but don’t sail in my way.”
This is impossible. If American Fonops increase in China’s waters in the South China Sea, an ever-stronger PLA Navy can only become more determined to check them. Therefore, at least in theory, it is only a matter of time before another crisis occurs.
For Beijing, a fundamental problem exists – if the US does not want the water to boil, why does it keep throwing wood into the fire? It is the American ships that come regularly to China’s doorstep and not the other way round.
It is not clear why the US Navy chose to publicise its operation in India’s EEZ at a time when Washington wants Delhi to take its side in its competition with China. It is a useful lesson for India. Expediency might sell in the short term, but it seldom pays off in the long run and, worse still, it might backfire.
Senior Colonel Zhou Bo (ret) is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University and a China Forum expert