US, India’s Asia-Pacific vision makes the Chinese dragon uneasy

NEW DELHI/BEIJING: As the dust settles on India's nuclear deal with the US, it is their China-centric joint strategic vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region issued after PM Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama's summit meet, which promises to be an outcome of far-reaching implications. It was under Modi and Obama, after their meeting last year in Washington, that the two countries had first mentioned the imperative for freedom of navigation in South China Sea. And now, with the vision issued on Sunday, India has shown that it will no longer be inhibited about lending weight to US's pivot or rebalance of Asia. Faced with this new and developing geopolitical challenge, the Chinese foreign ministry on Monday reacted to the India-US declaration by saying that "relevant disputes should be resolved by parties directly concerned through peaceful talks and consultation". It also warned that "external countries" should not stir up trouble in the region. In another remark, said to be a fallout of Obama's visit to India, the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was reported as having told Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif that Pakistan was China's "irreplaceable all-weather friend" and that they shared "common destiny". China also extended conditional support for India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership but said "prudence and caution" needed to be exercised. The India-US joint statement said that Obama and Modi also explored chances of holding trilateral dialogue with Japan at the foreign minister level. The vision, according to the statement, was also in recognition of the fact that India's Act-East Policy and the US rebalance provided opportunities for them and other Asia-Pacific countries to work together to strengthen regional ties. "We hope that external countries can play a constructive role on the South China Sea issue, jointly safeguard peace and stability in the sea and work together to maintain a fine situation and not to stir up trouble," said Hua Chunying, the Chinese foreign ministry spokewoman. 'India, US trying to prevent power disequilibrium' According to strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney, the joint strategic vision statement centres on a key US-India convergence — the threat posed by an increasingly muscular China in seeking to both alter the territorial status quo by stealthy force and shape a China-centric regional order. "The statement lays out the intent of the US and India to develop a roadmap to address the new challenges in the Asia-Pacific, including by strengthening trilateral consultations with third countries in the region. In other words, the two will work to develop a concert of democracies to prevent power disequilibrium," said Chellaney. While Obama reiterated support for India's membership of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, China, which is a member of the group, also warned that this required "careful consideration from all the member countries". India is seeking to become a member of the group, which controls global nuclear commerce, despite not having signed NPT. "We support the group carrying out discussions on admitting new members and at the same time we encourage India to take the next steps to satisfy the relevant standards of the group," said the Chinese spokeswoman. -TOI