New Delhi: With China announcing that it will launch cooperation and training programmes to enhance blue economy cooperation with Indian Ocean countries, India will have reasons to be worried about security in its strategic neighbourhood.
During the Second China-Indian Ocean Region Forum meeting on the theme of blue economy cooperation held at Kunming in China’s Yunnan province this week, Luo Zhaohui, chairman of organiser China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), said that his country is a strategic partner of countries in the Indian Ocean region, with a total of 23 dialogue partners.
“To implement the SDGs (UN’s Sustainable Development Goals) and Ocean Decade, China has done our job,” Luo said. “China's economic development has got remarkable achievements. We are willing to share the experiences with our Indian Ocean partners, and enhance concrete blue economy cooperation with the regional countries.”
China does not have direct access to the Indian Ocean, which is a major part of the Indo-Pacific, a region of strategic geopolitical importance. India, along with the US, Japan and Australia, are part of a Quad that is working for a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of China’s hegemony in the region. The Indo-Pacific stretches from the east coast of Japan to the east coast of Africa.
According to a report in the Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China (CPC), over 350 representatives from more than 20 countries and international organisations participated in the Second China-Indian Ocean Region Forum meeting, “engaging in in-depth exchanges to strengthen policy coordination, enhance resilience against various shocks and disasters, promote sustainable use of marine resources, and achieve broad consensus on regional and global development”.
A joint statement issued on Saturday following the meeting stated that all parties agreed that stepping up marine development cooperation and developing a sustainable blue economy is an important way to jointly tackle threats and challenges and secure development and stability in the region.
“They expressed concern over the biodiversity loss, climate warming and sea-level rise, frequent marine disasters and their impact on economic and social development faced by the countries in the region,” it stated. “They also underscored that the international community needs to strengthen policy coordination and redouble efforts to provide knowledge and solutions to enhance the health and resilience of the regional marine ecosystems, help all parties build their capacity to withstand and respond to marine disasters, and improve the effectiveness of the countries concerned in benefitting economically from the sustainable use of marine resources, such as fisheries and aquaculture, renewable energy, tourism and shipping.”
China has been actively engaging with countries in the Indian Ocean Region through various forums and initiatives. The China-Indian Ocean Region Forum is one such. The CIDCA, which organises the Forum’s meeting, is an agency that was created to “achieve better coordination and greater impact” of China’s aid programs, particularly in support of the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The BRI is a massive infrastructure and economic development project that includes the construction of ports and maritime infrastructure. This initiative involves significant investments in countries around the Indian Ocean, facilitating the development of maritime routes and providing China with increased access to key ports.
China has invested heavily in developing and managing ports in the Indian Ocean region. For example, Gwadar Port in Pakistan, which is a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), provides China with a strategic outpost in the Arabian Sea. India has opposed the BRI as the CPEC, a key project under it, passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). New Delhi has also pointed out that Beijing is putting countries participating in the BRI under debt traps.
The Gwadar Port is also a part of China’s “String of Pearls”, a network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its maritime trade routes. It includes ports and other strategic points in the Indian Ocean, such as Gwadar Port in Pakistan, Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka, Djibouti's Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port and the Kyaukpyu Port in Myanmar.
What will be a matter of concern for New Delhi is that the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum poses a challenge to the Indian Ocean Region Association (IORA), an international organisation consisting of 23 countries, including India, bordering the Indian Ocean. The IORA has identified six priority areas, namely, maritime security, trade and investment facilitation, fisheries management, disaster risk reduction, academic and scientific cooperation and tourism promotion and cultural exchanges. In addition to these, two focus areas are also identified by IORA, namely blue economy, which was the theme of the Second China-Indian Ocean Region Forum, and women’s economic empowerment.
What will be a source of additional concern for India is the participation of the Maldives at the Kunming event at the cost of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) meeting that was held in Mauritius almost simultaneously this week. The CSC is a maritime security grouping comprising India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius with Bangladesh and the Seychelles as observer nations. The Maldives’ participation in the Kunming event while skipping the CSC meeting in Mauritius comes in the wake of the election of Mohamed Muizzu, seen as pro-China and anti-India, as the President of the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. The previous Maldives government headed by Ibrahim Mohammad Solih, which pursued an India-first policy, skipped last year’s meeting of the Forum.
As part of New Delhi’s Neighbourhood First Policy, the Maldives is strategically significant to India because of its location in the Indian Ocean. India and the Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links steeped in antiquity and enjoy close, cordial and multi-dimensional relations. However, regime instability in the Maldives since 2008 has posed significant challenges to the India-Maldives relationship, particularly in the political and strategic spheres.
Although India continues to be an important partner of the Maldives, New Delhi cannot afford to be complacent over its position and must remain attentive to the developments in the Maldives. India must play a key role within the Indo-Pacific security space to ensure regional security in South Asia and surrounding maritime boundaries. China’s strategic footprint in India’s neighbourhood has increased. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in China’s “String of Pearls” construct in South Asia.
Speaking at the CSC meeting in Mauritius on Thursday, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval emphasised on the “crucial role” of the grouping maintaining regional security and stability. “In his statement, NSA Shri Ajit Doval emphasised the crucial role of CSC in ensuring regional security & stability, and highlighted the significance of continued engagements under the different pillars of cooperation,” the Indian High Commission in Mauritius posted on X. “Members also agreed on a Roadmap of Activities for 2024.”
On the other hand, Maldives’ Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef said at the Kunming meeting that his country “stands ready to forge stronger bonds, share expertise, and work hand-in-hand toward a resilient and prosperous Indian Ocean Region”.
“The Vice President further stated that China has been crucial to the Maldives’ recent development and highlighted the two countries’ shared commitment to a people-centric strategy, aiming to promote social development, peace, and prosperity,” the Global Times report stated.
“He added that the recently inaugurated President of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, and his administration are dedicated to fortifying the long-standing relations between China and the Maldives, built upon the foundation of mutual respect and shared goals. He expressed eagerness to explore novel avenues of collaboration and cooperation with China, fostering a dynamic partnership bringing tangible benefits to both nations.”
Latheef’s comments came in the wake of Muizzu’s demand for the withdrawal of a group of Indian military personnel posted in the Maldives, negotiations for which are on. With this, Maldives has put itself up front and centre as the playground of major power rivalry in the strategic Indian Ocean region.
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