The red flag as China’s expansionist strategy rolls on

Context: India has
strongly condemned the recent Chinese actions, asserting that they are illegal
and a direct challenge to India’s sovereignty. In response to China’s ambitious
hydropower project, India has expressed concern, noting that it is monitoring
the situation and will take necessary measures to safeguard its national
interests. These developments are particularly disturbing given the recent
consensus on troop disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These
new moves further underscore the unpredictability of China’s approach in the
region.

Key points

·      
Overview: India has witnessed two
significant incidents of Chinese aggression along the China-India border,
highlighting vulnerabilities that not only threaten India’s territorial
integrity but also undermine its sovereignty.

·      
China’s Ambitions: Superpower
Status - Beijing believes maritime dominance is key to achieving global
leadership they feel is their right.

Resource Access
-
China’s economy is hungry for energy and raw materials. Control over sea lanes
secures their supply chain.

Challenging the
Status Quo - China resents the existing US-led maritime order. They want to change
the rules in their favour.

·      
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Debt-Trap
Diplomacy - Many BRI projects saddle smaller nations with unsustainable
debt, making them vulnerable to Chinese influence. Example: Hambantota Port in
Sri Lanka.

Naval Access - These ports,
ostensibly commercial, can easily become dual- use, allowing Chinese warships
to refuel, resupply, and extend their presence far from home.

·      
String of Pearls: This strategy
isn’t formally declared by China, but the pattern is clear-

Ø  Strategic
Encirclement - They build relationships with countries along key sea lanes,
establishing a network of potential bases. This constricts India’s maritime
space.

Ø  Trade Control - Dominance over
these routes lets China pressure trade flows of energy and other resources to
its advantage.

·      
India-China Border Dispute: The 3,488-km
border is not clearly demarcated throughout and there is no mutually agreed
Line of Actual Control (LAC) along certain stretches. LAC that came into
existence after the 1962 India-China war is the demarcation that separates
Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.

·      
India's Strategic Autonomy and rising
global footprint: India as economic and military power - China
is wary of India's economic and military rise and recent status as the world's
most populous country.

India as a
regional democratic power - India presents a sustainable alternative to China's
debt-trap policy for neighbouring countries, challenging China's influence.

·      
Conclusion: Going forward,
in the words of India's Minister of External Affairs, 'the relationship between
India and China is "quite a challenge" since India and China are the
two most populous countries of the world, both rising in a broadly parallel
timeframe, physically next to each other'. The relationship was profoundly
affected by 2020 military standoff as it has always been an assumption by India
that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for the
development of bilateral ties. Both countries will also have to look at it
slowly and progressively.