Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Vietnamese scud ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author- Hohum) Source- The Business Standard Author- Jeremy Bender Vietnam is becoming a proxy against China in any future possible confrontation in the South China Sea or South Asia as a whole. On Oct. 28 India announced that it would sell naval vessels to Vietnam in exchange for an energy-exploration deal. These vessels would arrive at a time of rising tension between Vietnam and China over contested island chains in the South China Sea. Massive protests broke out across Vietnam in May and over the summer, as citizens torched Chinese businesses after China moved an oil rig into disputed territory west of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Both Vietnam and China lay claim to the islands, and the nations have frequently clashed over them. India's decision to back Vietnam comes during the country's own border disputes with China. China and India fought a border war in 1962 that has led to the fr

Image credits- Flickr/ MEA Official Source- First Post Author- Rajeev Srinivasan Events in the recent past have made it clear that the Narendra Modi government is serious about India’s military and geopolitical ambitions. It is a truism that a blue-water navy that can project power over long distances is a necessity for any major power, especially one with global ambitions. Equally, it is clear that any power worth its salt has to deter other powers from doing things that would hurt its geopolitically. In this context, Vietnam becomes significant for India for several reasons. It is clear that India’s most important enemy is China, which has embarked on a ‘string-of-pearls’ strategy to surround and contain India in a “South-Asia” ghetto of sorts (incidentally, the Chinese have been the most enthusiastic propagators of that meaningless term in an attempt to dilute India’s fairly good and historical brand, while they aggressively push the ‘Greater China’ brand, notably