New Delhi:
China, in a bid to take control of nearly the entire South China Sea, has raised several eyebrows including India.
Its expansionist agenda dominated by “massive reclamation” works has concerned India as the move can allow Beijing to deploy naval and air forces -- in the strategic waterway that is imperative for Delhi's Asia-Pacific outreach as well as energy investments.
Modi government has clearly stated that stability in the region is necessary for India’s economic prosperity.
The government also asserted that settlement of disputes is not possible with threat of force.
The decision has also raised a hue and cry by several other countries. Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has also stated China’s efforts were aimed at undermining a United Nations tribunal that is due to rule early next year on a Philippine challenge to its claims to the disputed waters.
However, China insists it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the resource-rich sea, even areas approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, based on an old Chinese map with nine dashes outlining its territory.
It fails to understand that the nine dashes are in some places more than 1,000 (600 miles) from the nearest major Chinese landmass and well within the exclusive economic zones of its neighbours.
The dispute - with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claiming parts of the sea - has for decades been a source of deep regional tension and occasional military conflict.
Tensions have escalated sharply in recent years as China has moved to increase its presence and assert its authority in the waters.
China is a signatory to the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty that is meant to govern nations’ maritime actions.
(With PTI inputs)
