Opinion | India Is Turning Up The Heat On China - And Not Just In Its Neighbourhood
NDTV
The week gone by has been a busy period for India in the Indo-Pacific. India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Laos and the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Japan. Jaishankar's visit to Laos also featured a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, following their last meeting at Astana earlier this year. The context for Jaishankar's visit was set by India's enduring pushback against China in key arenas of its interest. Arguably, China remains the pre-eminent concern for India's national security planners. India's China challenge is multipronged, with unresolved border conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as well as Beijing's expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean. China's more recent overtures in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the South China Sea region, have also compelled India's Quad partners and several Southeast Asian countries to intensify measures to counterbalance Beijing. Thus, the China question was a natural focal point for Jaishankar during both Laos and Japan visits.
At the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, the four member countries of the grouping released a joint statement which amply addressed their common concerns with regard to China's belligerent posturing in the Indo-Pacific. The Quad members have long resisted the notion that the formulation of the grouping is directed at countering Beijing, instead emphasising that it seeks to harness the emerging opportunities of collective cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. There is no denying, however, that the China factor is a critical cog in the Quad wheel. The latest joint statement released by the Quad countries evidently suggests that concerns regarding China's overtures in the Indo-Pacific appear to be taking centre-stage in the thinking of the grouping. The joint statement expressed concerns over the evolving situation in the East and South China Seas, alluding to China's unilateral actions by use of force and coercion. The statement decried, without naming, Beijing's use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea attributing it to 'dangerous manoeuvres' in the region. Jaishankar's individual remarks about the state of India-China relations have further garnered attention. Upon being questioned about India's relations with China, Jaishankar unequivocally stated that the bilateral ties between the two neighbours are 'not doing very well'. This admission appears to present continuity in India's enduring pushback against China in light of border skirmishes and conflict since 2020. However, in the Indo-Pacific context, a shift appears to be underway in India's approach towards China. In the past, India's response to China's aggressive overtures in the Indo-Pacific had remained relatively subdued. In its stead, Jaishankar's recent comments at the Quad summit and the joint statement demonstrate India's willingness to push back against China in the Indo-Pacific context as well.