India should guard against
China’s imperial behaviour
Sri Lanka
President Maithripala Sirisena, suspended China’s $1.4-billion Colombo port
project. Foreign Minister Mangala
Samaraweera announced that Chinese nuclear submarines would no longer be
welcome to dock in Sri Lankan harbours, even as Sri Lanka ups maritime
cooperation with India. Sri Lanka also signed its first nuclear agreement with
India, albeit one that envisages nuclear safety operations and not energy
generation at present. All these moves, capped by Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, sent out a clear message of India’s importance
in Sri Lanka’s external relations. Each of these is an acknowledgment that
India is now the ‘elephant in the room’ when China engages one of its closest
neighbours.
We should not read
too much in the relationship between Sri Lanka and China. In any case the tilt
towards China made by the previous regime is being corrected. India and Sri
Lanka being neighbors, there is bound to be some friction. A perceived hegemony
of India will die a natural death if ignored by us.
Steps by Sri Lanka
like preventing Chinese submarines from docking in their harbours and
re-examining certain Chinese projects are positive. However India should be
wary of the suggested trilateral arrangement. Past events like the 1962 war and
recent infiltrations such as the Daulat Beg Oldi Incident and the infiltration
coinciding with President Xi Jinping's September 2014 visit to India are a
grave reminder that India needs to maintain caution when it comes to China.
It is not for Sri Lanka
but for China to understand that India is an emerging power and its presence
cannot be ignored. Stalling of certain China backed projects and giving a green
signal to India's is sure step in that direction. PM Modi's foreign policy shows
signs of taking India slowly to an international platform at par with China. It
may sound a little far fetched but you never know.
As a rising power
India must watch its step before taking any kind of decision. We all know that China
is proving to be imperialistic power in many instances especially where it
comes to India.
India being an
emerging power in the world has extended helping hand to many and one of them
is Lankan state. Indian Ocean has become a major sea route trade for achieving
growth and development. It must go to the credit of PM Modi's diplomatic skills
that Sri Lanka has taken at least some steps to restrict the influence of
Chinese’s money power in our Southern neighbourhood, which was going to pose
serious problems not only for India but for Sri Lanka as well. The new
President of SL has also displayed great courage and sensitivity to India's
concerns. That should certainly help in improving strained relations between
India and SL during Rajpakshe's presidency. For India, the bonus will come in
the form of similar steps from other South Asian countries, notably Burma and
Bangladesh, who are being targetted by China to spread its wings to such an
extent that it may create problems for India. All said and done, India's new
diplomatic approach with South Asian nations vis-a-vis China is paying
dividends. This will have far reaching consequences in days and years to come
when India attains greater economic status and plays more important role.
The Chinese do not
have any benign intentions when they come to India's neighbourhood and dangle
their fat cheque books to woo cash-starved small countries. Their strategy is
to deny the Indian navy its legitimate role in the Indian Ocean. India has no
option but to counter the Chinese moves. China is displaying a typical imperial
behavior and India would be right to keep its guard up.
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