India Asserts in the East

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s on-going visit to Brunei and Singapore is the expression of India’s policy of “development and not the policy of expansionism”. India’s response to the South China Sea maritime dispute and the Chinese imperialist designs in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been proactive and a diversion from the past foreign policy of laid back approach. The new approach to foreign affairs is national security oriented and is meant to give response in the same language as understood by the belligerent neighbour that wants to encircle India in the seas after posing challenges in the Himalayas to destabilize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bharat. Over the years China has been strangulating Indian interests by the policy of string of pearls by encircling India. This needed an appropriate answer. And India’s time has arrived to assert and send an apt message that India is not overlooking what is being cooked to checkmate India. India’s reach out policy to its neighbours in the sea like Brunei and Singapore must be seen in the context of this belligerence by China. China claims most of the South China Sea but Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have confronted these claims and registered their protest from time to time to challenge Chinese hegemony. By reaching out to these nations in the sea India has infused a sense of conviction and confidence among these nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the strongest leaders and statesmen in the contemporary geo-political scenario that is emerging so fast. His visits are sending a positive message that the world is not unipolar but a multipolar system that needs to be underlined. The joint statement issued by India and Brunei has laid stress on UN-mandated law for the resolution of these maritime disputes. Prime Minister Modi has given a clear message at the banquet hosted in his honour by the Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan. He said, “We support freedom of navigation and over flight under international laws like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A serious thought is being given to the code of conduct in the South China Sea in the wake of loss of claims on the maritime territory by China in the US court”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a clear message without naming China: “We agree that a code of conduct should be finalized in this region. We support the policy of development, and not expansionism”. Focussing on the legality of the issue, the joint statement makes it clear that, “Both leaders reiterated their commitment to respect freedom of navigation and over flight and unimpeded lawful commerce, consistent with international law, notably the UNCLOS-1982.” Giving new dimensions to the ties between the two nations, after the bilateral meeting with the Sultan, Prime Minister Modi said, “We have decided to strengthen our cooperation in fin-tech and cyber security along with agri-industry, space, pharmaceutical and health sectors.” India has also focussed on the energy sector wherein cooperation in terms of long term was sought in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). India has shown a desire for a long term gas supply mechanism with Brunei. Prime Minister Modi has also dealt with the defense ties between the two nations. He has said, “To strengthen our defence cooperation, we held constructive dialogue on possibilities of cooperation in defense industry, training and capacity building.” Not only that the two sides have joined hands in space sector-satellite development and remote sensing as well. It is in this connection that an already existing MOU on hosting of Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO’s) telemetry tracking and telecommand station (TTC) has been renewed during the Prime Minister’s visit. Two leaders have also put the stamp of affirmation on the direct flight between Chennai and Bandar Seri Begawan. To sum up, India is playing on the front foot to uphold its national interests with a focus on stable and friendly relations with its neighbours in the sea. It will surely put brakes on the Chinese stratagem to checkmate Indian interests in the East.