South China Sea- India's options

Image credits- Indian Navy

South China Sea has been in news in recent times due to the aggressive activities of the Chinese which includes island buildings and aggressive petrols. South China sea is critical for the world commerce as it encompass major trade route connecting the far east with rest of Asia and Europe. 

China's claim:

China's obscure claim to the entire South China Sea relies on unreliable historic documents. China claims the entire of South China Sea in what they call the nine dash line. China has been in the past decade fortifying their claims with rapidly expanding the islands by incorporating construction and expansion. That put them in direct conflict with almost all off the other countries which has coastline with South China Sea including Vietnam and Philippines to name a few. 

The threat to Indian security from an ever expanding China:

China has been expanding it's reach into the Indian Ocean region which India considers to be it's sphere of influence. They have been undertaking project developments in what is refereed to the strings of pears strategy that will see them develop ports and supporting infrastructure stretching from Myanmar all the way to the African coast with major ports in Srilanka and Pakistan to name a few. These ports including the Colombo and Hambantota ports in Srilanka and Gwadar port in Pakistan. 

What worries India more is the dual nature of these ports as they serve not only the commercial interests but can also act as replenishment bases for the PLAN. That was amply proved when two Chinese submarines docked in these ports in Srilanka. Further China is rapidly expanding it's presence in Pakistan. They are

Image credits- Indian Navy

also rapidly expanding the Pakistani navy by gifting high value ships like submarines. Pakistan will shortly commence construction of these subs based on the largely successful and lethal PLAN Type- 41 class sub with AIP. That makes these subs lethal and one of the gravest threat to India.  These are apart from the regular PLAN sub petrols to the Indian Ocean region including the Arabian sea that touches he Indian shores and India's vital sea lines. India has responded well by developing credible anti submarine warfare capability with the induction of assets like Project-28 ASW corvettes and also deployment of aircrafts like the P-8i Neptune which act as a check on PLAN and Pakistani adventures in the Indian Ocean region. 

American pivot and alliance of democracies: 

South China sea for China what Indian Ocean region is for India. But in may respects China has over stepped it's mandate by claiming the entire South China Sea and aggravating the situation by expanding their presence and capabilities with rapid construction if islands that can support military assets. They may also declare Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) over the South China Sea severely restricting the movement of even commercial flights over South China Sea. In direct response to the Chinese actions, America has in recent times taken the decision to deploy a major chunk of their assets to the Asian region in direct response to the Chinese threat. 

They have also been expanding dialogue with the other powers of the region including Japan, Australia and India. These four countries form the core of the powers that has the capability to check China. But India has stated that we are not interested in any such alliance against China; at least for the time being. India has taken a prudent decision for the time being not to antagonize China. But that will not be the case for long. India depends on the commercial traffic through South China sea for expanding it's trade with the countries of the far east.

 If there is any obstruction to the same, that will have adverse impact on our economy. Hence things escalate and grows to a point where in the sea line are blocked, India will be forced to intervene in South China sea. But India currently does not have the capability to face off against China on it's own. That is where the cooperation between USA, India, Japan and Australia attains significance. India need not publicly join any alliance against China, but it is prudent to have some type of understanding with these countries so that India will have the support if China becomes a threat and it may prove vital to check on China for the sake of world peace. Time is not far when India will be forced to take a decision as far as South China Sea is concerned. 

It is also prudent to note that India need to have any qualms to take a stand against China as China has been acting in ways that is in direct threat to India's security. For India, our vital national security is vital and in such an endeavor, it is meaningless what other countries may feel about our decisions. Only vital national interests count.