Asserting that there should be no doubt about China's intent to build a strong naval presence in the Indian Ocean, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran has said that a U.S.-India security link up could become a significant constraint on Beijing.
Saran said that it would be preferable for India to see China's strategic focus remaining anchored in its adjacent seas.
"There should be no doubt about China's intent to build a strong naval presence in the Indian Ocean. Chinese writings consider this an indispensable component of the country's emergence as a great power. They also recognize that India does have a locational advantage in the Indian Ocean and deploys significant naval assets. While India itself is not seen as posing a threat to China, a U.S.-India security link up could, in this view, become a significant constraint on China," he added.
Saran said while the U.S. retains overall military pre-eminence and continues to enjoy both naval and air dominance in East Asia, there is a growing perception that this dominance is being steadily eroded by the rapid expansion of Chinese military capabilities.
"Even if Chinese capabilities continue to expand, it may be some time before China could match U.S. power in the region. Being conscious of this, China has been acquiring asymmetric capabilities aimed at of neutralizing the superior firepower of U.S. deployments in the region, in particular, in theatres of greatest strategic interest to it, that is, the Yellow Sea, the Taiwan Straits and the South China sea," said Saran while speaking at the third annual lecture of the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents here.
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"In this sense, the shift of the centre of gravity of economic power from the trans-Atlantic to Asia-Pacific, led mostly by China's extraordinary rapid and sustained growth, has not yet led to a parallel shift in the centre of gravity of military power to Asia. This is another symmetry that is likely to continue and this will be a source of instability that one should be mindful of," he added.
The former foreign secretary further said the ASEAN Member States and India share a long and glorious history of friendly relations.
"They are both heirs to cross-roads culture situated as they are at the intersections of major land and sea routes. This enabled a dense and free flow of people, merchandise, cultures and ideas among them," he added.
