New Delhi is set to host a naval exercise next week with 23 participating nations including Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam – a move that is sure to agitate China.
Beijing has warned that the large war-game to be staged in the Indian Ocean – earmarked as a solid step to push the new Indo-Pacific co-defense strategy – could risk “spreading the Sino-Indian tensions from land to the sea”.
The Beijing-based Global Times has called for the Chinese military to stage a “tit-for-tat” response, such as a drill of similar size.
The biennial, eight-day exercise codenamed ‘Milan’ is being organized on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean from March 6.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are located at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, west of Chennai. The biennial naval exercise has been held nine times since 1995.
India will host navies from at least 16 countries for the drill “in the backdrop of China’s growing military posturing in the Indo-Pacific region,” the semi-official Press Trust of India has said.
The fact that navy chiefs and representatives of participating countries will discuss China’s military maneuvers in the South China Sea wil also irk Beijing.
The 16 nations include Australia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Vietnam, Thailand, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya and Cambodia, according to Indian Navy spokesman Captain DK Sharma.
Analysts say this is a rare event, possibly the first time that so many navies from the Asia-Pacific and far-flung regions will meet to hone skills together in the increasingly combustible Indian Ocean.
It comes amid speculation that these vast waters may replace the South China Sea as the next hotspot when an assertive Beijing seeks to project its might further beyond its borders.
Aside from the navies listed above, South Africa, the Philippines, Mozambique, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Timor Leste will also participate in patrol exercises, maritime rescue and other humanitarian missions.
Not long after China and India pulled troops away from the Doklam plateau to stop a border standoff from escalating into a regional war, India launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in January, making no bones that it “could reach the northernmost parts of China with its strike range of over 5,000 kilometers.” One month later, the nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile was tested in the eastern state of Odisha.
“India is provoking China,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, claimed in the People’s Daily.
“China should respond militarily to send the message that it’s prepared to go to the stakes when it comes to safeguarding its own legitimate interests,” he said.
His remarks echo a recent PLA Daily editorial that in 2018 the force should go hold drills and beef up its presence in places that the Chinese navy and air force have seldom been before. The PLA Navy traditionally holds exercises in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea but “expect more sights of Chinese warships in other parts of the globe,” the op-ed said.
Dear Boy,
For some reason you are discussing a state which does not exist and which was never recognized by a single country as existing. But for some reason you think your flight of fancy is on par with the reality of the province of Xinjiang.
So…the fact that you personally know some "dissidents" means that all Uighurs want independence? You should go to the Canadian province of Quebec! Roughly 30-40% of the population wants independence from Canada. You would have no problem finding them and you could declare a country called "Quebec Land"! You could also claim that because you’ve met some independence-minded Quebecers that all the people of Quebec want independence. I also know for a fact that you could find some which would claim that they are repressed. That would make the same amount of sense as this conversation.
If you honestly think that anyone can be told what to think then I have no idea what to tell you other than, it doesn’t work. As for extra security, there are terrorists killing innocent civilians. Obviously you think this must be a great thing or you would understand attempts made to prevent it.
Additionally, it is COMMON for Uighurs to turn in terrorists. They do it regularly. That’s partially the reason why they are so unsuccessful. So your strange claim that all Uighurs support independence is nonsense.
As for your dramatic final claim, you could make the same claim about the U.S. government. Go read over the Patriot Act and how it has influenced the freedoms that Americans enjoy. Dramatic overgeneralizations are the bread and butter of anti-China rhetoraticians.
Jo Snow Philippines 75% of population hates chinazi only 7% dutertards, duterte and its cabinet loves them. time will come we will gladly sample one of their kind when war erupts.
Thank you for helping the Filipino people, save us from our President who is allied with China.
Are you sure? What about fast patrol boats supplied from China for free? Nearly 500 years lago Chinese eunuch admiral Zeng He supposedly planted Chinese flag on these islands.
Low Shen-Cheang LOL! Xi’s authoritarian China is a happy place than India; how about let the common chinese comeout in open through open & transparent internet access or without the Police/ military control conduct a referendum whether they still want Xi as their leader! Insecure inferiority complex infected Chinese polit bureau is moving towards its downfall with Xis indefinite presidency!
Beto Perez In South East Asia, North East Asia China & South Asia still exercises the hegmony and blackmails the free nations with nuclear bombs through proxies of North Korea & Pakistan. Authoritarianism in China through Xi will be the downfall of China.
Jason Jean: Tibetans setting themselves on fire trying to get rid of China. Matter of fact bunch of Tibetans set themselves on fire in New Delhi, India in order to get international attention. CNBC/ china denies harvesting organs but evidence belies it’s claim". Several Chinese people escaped from China and were distributing flyers in Australia, UK and demanding why this world is quiet about Chinese govt atrocities on its own people. Chinese govt doesn’t execute the murderers & rapists only, majority of people who get executed are either completely innocent or political prisoners. News also say "7,8,9 months pregnant women abducted in china, tied to the tables & getting abortion. So you mean to say CNN, CNBC, ABC news, independent.co.uk, world’s top news agencies are spreading false rumors against Chinese govt without any evidence? Wow. This world is so crucial