Chinese warships return to South China Sea
Indian Navy continues heavy deployment around Maldives
AChinese warship flotilla that had entered the Indian Ocean, reportedly heading for the Maldives, has turned around and returned to the South China Sea, said highly credible Indian Navy (IN) sources.
On Tuesday, Reuters quoted Chinese website Sina.com to report 11 Chinese warships had entered the Indian Ocean “amid a constitutional crisis in the tiny tropical island chain of the Maldives, now under a state of emergency”, clearly suggesting gunboat diplomacy at work.
However, IN sources said while a Chinese flotilla, including a destroyer and a frigate, had indeed crossed into the ocean through the Sunda Strait, it turned around and returned to the South China Sea through the Lombok Strait.
The four straits of Malacca, Sunda, Lombok and Ombai Wetar are used by China’s People’s Liberation Army (Navy), or PLA(N), to cross between their bases in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The IN, meanwhile, maintains a heavy presence of battle-ready warships in the Arabian Sea, including many close to the Maldives.
According to a navy announcement last Wednesday, “A tri-service maritime exercise, code-named ‘Paschim Lehar’, commenced on the western seaboard on February 12. This includes participation of a large number of ships, submarines and aircraft from the Western Naval Command.”
The announcement also revealed the presence of “Eastern Naval Command, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard (units that are) also participating to build interoperability.”
In all, India has over 40 ships and submarines deployed in Paschim Lehar, and a similar number of combat aircraft.
If further signalling were needed of the ready availability of military power, the navy also announced that the army’s amphibious forces — specialist units used to assault and capture island targets — were also participating in the exercise.
Contacted for comments, an IN spokesperson stated: “This is a routine training exercise. It will last for a month.”
India’s proximity to the Maldives lets it project far greater force around the archipelago than the PLA(N), for significantly longer durations.
The ongoing constitutional crisis in the Maldives is a contest for influence between the pro- China President Abdulla Yameen, and his pro-India predecessor, Mohamed Nasheed, currently in exile in Sri Lanka.
Delhi is concerned that the Maldives is gravitating into Beijing’s orbit, with Yameen signing up for the latter’s Belt and Road Initiative. There is worry that China could eventually build a naval base here.
Yameen has allowed Beijing to invest in a major port project. That prompted Nasheed to state China was “buying up the Maldives”.
Yameen has responded with a political crackdown. After the Supreme Court ordered the release of jailed opposition party members earlier this month, Yameen declared a 10-day state of emergency on February 5.
On Monday, Yameen sought parliamentary approval to extend the emergency for 30 days. In a press release on Tuesday, our ministry of external affairs tweeted: “It is our expectation that the Government of Maldives will not be seeking the extension of the State of Emergency and (will) resume the political process with immediate effect.”