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ABSTRACT
The South China Sea is of immense strategic significance to India from politico-diplomatic, economic and security perspectives. As a rising power, India has expanded its strategic geography and, in this context, it formulated its Look East Policy, which was rechristened as the Act East Policy in 2014. Its current interests go beyond Southeast Asia into the wider Asia-Pacific region, including the South China Sea. From an economic perspective, more than 50% of India’s trade is transported through the sea lanes of the South China Sea. India is also concerned about China’s assertiveness here, in particular its aggressive posturing and militarisation of the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands and non-adherence to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). India has actively promoted the principles of international law and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. Further, the Indian Navy has maintained a regular presence in the South China Sea to protect India’s economic and security interests, which includes the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) offshore oil and gas exploration project in partnership with Vietnam.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Dr Vijay Sakhuja, Kalinga International Foundation, for his valuable comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
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28 Ibid.
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31 US Embassy & Consulates in India, “U.S.–Australia–India–Japan Consultations (‘The Quad’) Senior Officials Meeting,” December 18, 2020, https://in.usembassy.gov/u-s-australia-india-japan-consultations-the-quad-senior-officials-meeting/ (accessed January 25, 2021).
32 Sakhuja, “India’s Stakes in South China Sea.”
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34 Pankaj K. Jha and Vo Xuan Vinh, India, Vietnam and the Indo-Pacific: Expanding Horizons (London and New York: Routledge, 2020), p. 81.
35 Abhijit Singh, “The Indian Navy’s Security Role in Littoral Asia,” in India’s Approach to Asia: Strategy, Geopolitics and Responsibility, ed. Namrata Goswami (Delhi: Pentagon Press, 2016), pp. 311–12.
36 Abhishek Mohanty, “India–Vietnam Defense Ties in Spotlight with Joint Naval Exercise,” Asia Times, May 29, 2018, https://asiatimes.com/2018/05/india-vietnam-defense-ties-in-spotlight-with-joint-naval-exercise/ (accessed November 11, 2021).
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54 Jha and Vinh, India, Vietnam and the Indo-Pacific, p. 81.
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56 “Chairman’s Statement of the 17th ASEAN–India Summit.”
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60 Derek Grossman, “The Quad Is Poised to Become Openly Anti-China Soon”, TheRANDBlog, July 28, 2020, https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/07/the-quad-is-poised-to-become-openly-anti-china-soon.html (accessed December 12, 2021).
61 Ministry of External Affairs (Government of India), “Annual Report 2020–21,” New Delhi, 2021, p. 152.
62 In his speech to MPs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in November 2010, US President Barack Obama emphasized that the U.S. wanted India to not only “look East”, but “engage East” (“U.S. President Barack Obama’s Parliament address,” The Hindu, November 8, 2010, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/U.S.-President-Barack-Obamarsquos-Parliament-address/article15679467.ece accessed December 12, 2021); When delivering a speech at APEC CEO Summit in Hanoi in 2017, the U.S. President Donald Trump appreciated India as one of countries outside of APEC which were making great strides for the new chapter for the Indo-Pacific (“Remarks by President Trump at APEC CEO Summit,” U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Vietnam, November 10, 2017, https://vn.usembassy.gov/20171110-remarks-president-trump-apec-ceo-summit/ accessed December 12, 2021); The India-US Malabar bilateral military exercises started in 1992, taking place mainly the Arabian Seas, have gradually moved to the East. In 2007, Malabar was first conducted in the waters (east of) Philippines. Japan joined Malabar since 2007. Malabar joint exercises have now conducted frequently in the Bay of Bengal, and Western Pacific.
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Notes on contributors
Vo Xuan Vinh
Vo Xuan Vinh is the Deputy Director General of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tran Xuan Hiep
Tran Xuan Hiep, Executive Director of Science and Technology Journal of Duy Tan University, Duy Tan University, Da Nang City, Vietnam.
Vo Minh Hung
Vo Minh Hung, Director, Graduate School, Baria Vungtau University, Baria-Vung Tau, Vietnam.