New Delhi: After the failing of the 13th round of senior commander level talks between the Indian and Chinese armies on Sunday, the linguistic tone and tenor used in the official notes to the press by the Indian army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has taken a sharp turn for the worse. The standard lines ‘Peace and Tranquility’ used officially to describe the border situation along the India-China border is as good as discarded.
On Monday morning, while the Indian Army described the PLA attitude as “non agreeable” and bereft of any “forward-looking proposals”, the PLA’s Western Theatre spokesperson Colonel Long Shaohua charged the Indian stand as “unreasonable and unrealistic” that “made the negotiations more difficult”.
Exercise Malabar
While the relation between the two Asian giants has taken a turn for the worse, the mood may turn more sombre in the Bay of Bengal where ‘Quad’ partners Indian Navy (IN), the United States Navy (USN), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) have embarked on the second phase of the multilateral maritime Exercise ‘Malabar’ from Tuesday.
To be conducted for four days till October 15, the first phase of ‘Malabar’ exercise was conducted in the Philippines Sea from August 26-29, 2021.
The ‘Quad’ or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is understood to be a grouping based on an anti-China platform—one that has resulted in a lot of umbrage from China. The ‘Quad’ states its commitment for a free, open, inclusive Indo-Pacific as well as a rules-based international order.
Being conducted in waters where China’s submarines and warships lurk around, the focus of this phase of the exercise is on advanced surface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, seamanship evolutions and weapon firings.
Indian Navy’s participation includes INS Ranvijay, INS Satpura, P8I Long Range Maritime patrol aircraft and a submarine while the US Navy is represented by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson along with two destroyers, USS Lake Champlain and USS Stockdale. The JMSDF will be represented by JS Kaga and JS Murasame and the RAN by HMAS Ballarat and HMAS Sirius.
Admiral Michael Gilday’s Visit
Very significantly, the Malabar exercise coincides with the ongoing India visit of the US Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Michael Gilday.
During his five day official visit to India, from October 11-15, Admiral Gilday will interact with IN chief Admiral Karambir Singh, in addition to other high ranking Indian government officials.
CNO Admiral Gilday will be visiting Indian Navy’s western naval command (at Mumbai) and the eastern naval command (at Visakhapatnam) wherein he would interact with the respective commander-in-chiefs besides embarking the USN Carrier Strike Group off the East Coast of India along with an Indian delegation.
India and the US share a warm relationship that has grown much closer in recent years especially from June, 2016 onwards after the US recognised India as a ‘major defence partner’—a status approximate with US’ closest allies.
Several foundational pacts underlie the warming India-US ties, like the Defence Framework Agreement (2015), the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) inked in 2018, and the Basic Exchange Cooperation Agreement (BECA) of 2020.
Just a day before the Ladakh talks, Indian Army chief General MM Naravane, on Saturday, had expressed concern on the large-scale build-up and the equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side. “It means that they (PLA) are there to stay… But if they are there to stay, we are there to stay too. And the build-up on our side, and the developments on our side, are as good as what PLA has done.”
The General’s statement came in the backdrop of two flare-ups in the central and eastern sector—one in Barahoti pasture in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on August 30, 2021, when about 100 PLA soldiers with about 55 horses transgressed about 5km inside Indian territory after crossing the Tun Jun pass.
The second incident took place near Yangtse on the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector on September 28 when there was a face-off between the patrol parties of the two sides that seemingly ran into each other.
