In strategic shift, India building its Navy to become maritime power: US expert

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In strategic shift, India building its Navy to become maritime power: US expert
Thursday, January 11, 2018 By: The Hindu Source Link: CLICK HERE

It sees its role across Indian Ocean as a “net provider of regional security” and, like US, is a votary of freedom of navigation: Alyssa Ayres

In an emerging strategic transformation, India is now considering itself as maritime power and building up its navy to meet that challenge after having thought of itself for a long time as a land power, according to a former senior US diplomat who is a leading expert on South Asia.

India increasingly sees its role across the Indian Ocean as a “net provider of regional security,” which is echoed by the US Secretaries of Defence and State when they talk about its role in the region, Alyssa Ayres, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, said on Wednesday.

“There is a transformation of the way the Indian Navy talks about the seas, from using the seas to securing the seas — this whole idea of New Delhi now playing a role in protecting the freedom of navigation as opposed to just the sealanes that the Indian Navy uses,” she said.

Ms. Ayres, who is now a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of the recently-published Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World, was speaking at the Asia Society here on “India 2018” a look at the year ahead.


China’s provocative activities ::

When thinking about the strategic future, there is concern about China’s activities in East and Southeast Asia, the expert said.

As a result, the US and India share an interest in ensuring that the sealanes remain open.

“India like the US is a vocal advocate of freedom of navigation,” she said. “The US and India are both very focused on this issue.”

“What you have seen in the last four-five months is an increasing convergence, where [President Donald] Trump’s administration has picked up what the Indian, the Japanese and the Australian government talk about, a concept of the Indo-Pacific region,” she said.

While the US traditionally spoke of the Asia-Pacific region, the Australians, Japanese and Indian leaders had a broader concept of the Indo-Pacific region, Ms. Ayres said.


‘Akin to US’ ::

“The US is now using that same term [and] what that does is that it expands the field of reference, it places India in a much more central role,” she said.

“It acknowledges the fact that India is a major defence partner in this larger [Indo-Pacific] region and that the US and India will continue to partner closely.”

Ms. Ayres said that the defence relations between Washington and New Delhi have grown through the last three US presidencies and Mr. Trump is continuing it.

A measure of the closeness can be seen in the joint military exercises they hold, she said.

“India now exercises more with the US than with any other partner and the talking point on the US side is that it exercises more with India than with any other non-NATO partner.”


Philippines representative’s take ::

The Philippines Permanent Representative to the UN, Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., questioned the basis of an Indo-Pacific concept saying it was “nowhere comparable to Asia-Pacific relationship to western economies.”

“I think the US focus on an Indian military alliance or relationship is really a distraction for the Chinese,” he said. “The Indian Ocean is just too big a neck to choke. So the real problem really remains the straits and the South China Sea.”

“Whatever is raised about the possibility of a Japan, Australia, India military combination to counter the Chinese concern, the usual reaction from the Philippines and the others is resentment,” he said.

“We do not want to get involved in any quarrel with China that involves India.”

“To get connected to India is really asking for trouble from China,” he added.
http://www.defencenews.in/article/I...avy-to-become-maritime-power-US-expert-525721
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Unfortunately, we still bend to the diktats of the Chinese. We conducted Ex Malabar with the US and Japan in the Indian Ocean but left out Australia because of Chinese objections. We should have gone ahead and asked China to mind their own business.

But then, we still haven't grown the balls to confront China fair and square. The next Malabar exercise must include Australia and South Korea too. We need to cock a snook at the Chinese who waste no tame badgering India at the drop of a hat. They lately have even mentioned that there is no state called Arunachal Pradesh!!
 

Indian Sniper.001

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Unfortunately, we still bend to the diktats of the Chinese. We conducted Ex Malabar with the US and Japan in the Indian Ocean but left out Australia because of Chinese objections. We should have gone ahead and asked China to mind their own business.

But then, we still haven't grown the balls to confront China fair and square. The next Malabar exercise must include Australia and South Korea too. We need to cock a snook at the Chinese who waste no tame badgering India at the drop of a hat. They lately have even mentioned that there is no state called Arunachal Pradesh!!
Cheena objected to the Malabar Exercise as a whole, but we proceeded with it. Australia isn't trustworthy when it comes to the matter of cheenis. They will backflip anytime. After all, cheenis have a good hold o'er their economy.
 

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The real reason for Australia not joining Malabar Ex are aussies themselves. Its clear from the excerpts below.

It’s Not China, It’s You, India Seems to Tell Spurned Aussies
New Delhi hasn’t forgotten Canberra’s previous flip-flop on regional security, and isn’t ready to let Aussies join three-way naval drills.

  • 7 MONTHS AGO
  • CATEGORIES: REPORT
  • Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian



China’s growing assertiveness and economic heft across Asia, combined with a newly reticent United States, is making countries in the region wonder if and when they’ll have to choose sides between Washington and Beijing.

That’s exactly what appeared to happen last week, after India rejected Australia’s request to send warships to participate in big naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal. News reports painted the rejection as a way for India to appease China, or at least avoid needlessly provoking Beijing.


But former naval officers and analysts say the rejection more likely reflects New Delhi’s worries that Australia may not be an entirely reliable security partner.

“When it comes to formulation of a collective response to China, including in terms of ‘moderating’ Beijing’s assertive behavior, Australia does not particularly inspire confidence,” Indian Capt. Gurpreet Khurana, who also directs the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi, told Foreign Policy.

That’s because the United States, India, Japan, and Australia have tried this before — only to see Australia walk away from four-way military exercises. In 2007, India, the United States, Japan, and Australia held naval exercises, along with Singapore. But China objected strongly, lodging diplomatic protests to each of the four main participants, as one goal of the quad was clearly a response to China’s own expanding maritime interests.

After Kevin Rudd became Australian Prime Minister, he held several meetings with Chinese officials, and in February 2008 Australia withdrew from the quad in a joint press conference with the Chinese foreign minister.
 

Haldiram

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Unfortunately, we still bend to the diktats of the Chinese. We conducted Ex Malabar with the US and Japan in the Indian Ocean but left out Australia
That is our bargaining chip. One ought to not burn out all chips in one go. We later played this Australia card during the Dokhlam standoff when there was a display of bonhomie between India and Australia, which was noticed by China.

If we posture ourselves as a natural enemy of China, then the US will assign a role to us and fit us into their world order where India has the 'responsibility' to contain China in consonance with US goals. We need to appear reluctant to go the whole hog while confronting China, so that we can squeeze reciprocal benefits from the US for every single move that we make. We're going to make those moves anyway, but by simply appearing reluctant, the US is forced to make strategic concessions vis-a-vis Pakistan in order to speed the process up.

Let us not forget that it was the US which ensured that the Indian force projection was limited to its land borders by supporting various insurgencies in India to force India to spend more on land warfare and have little budget left to modernize the Navy. 1965, it gave Patton tanks, 1971, Saber jets, then it started an insurgency in the N.E, then blessed the ISI to start the Khalistan problem, then the CIA started meddling in Sri Lanka, then they sanctioned us after our nuclear tests. It's quite rich, coming from a US 'expert' to pat India on the back for modernizing its Navy. The only impediments to our Navy modernization is the roadblocks which were created by the US.

Never seen a more harami nation than the US.

There are certain strategic areas where it is indeed preferable for China to have its dominance, rather than the US. China being a net exporter, has a vested interest in keeping the economic sea lanes open. India has no convergence with Philippines or Indonesia. There is no use expending Indian Naval assets to patrol the South China Sea based on US scaremongering. India and China are acting as a force multiplier for each other in Africa. Both of us have the same strategic goal of extracting raw materials from Africa, processing it in our respective nations and exporting it to the world. The US concept of Naval dominance is one where they incite India and China to block each other's trade routes and watch both economies burn.

If the US cares so much about Indian strategic interests, they should give up Diego Garcia to India as a sign of goodwill.
 

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