China gathers India Ocean countries for forum, leaves India out
The forum was organised by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), a government agency headed by former vice foreign minister and Chinese ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui
Beijing: China earlier this week gathered 19 countries including all countries from South Asia except India to attend a first Indian Ocean-focused forum, the latest pointer to Beijing’s expanding influence in the strategic maritime region and key sea trade route.
Ministerial officials and senior diplomats from Indonesia, Iran, Myanmar, Australia and eight African countries including South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania attended the first Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation (IORFDC) in the southwestern city of Kunming on November 21.
India wasn’t invited to the table, according to officials.
The forum was organised by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), a government agency headed by former vice foreign minister and Chinese ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui.
Taking the opportunity for the forum to widen its sphere of influence in the vast maritime region, China proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism with the countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
China is “…ready to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need,” a CIDCA statement released at the end of the forum said.
“China also proposed the establishment of a blue economy think tank network for China and countries in the Indian Ocean region with the support of (the province of) Yunnan,” the statement added.
The areas on which the countries vowed to focus were tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, climate crisis, increasing disaster risks, marine biodiversity loss, marine pollution, and their impact on economic and social stability and development that countries in the region have suffered.
“They emphasised that it is necessary to strengthen policy coordination,” the CIDCA statement added.
The forum was Beijing’s latest effort to reach out to countries dotting the IOR.
During his tour of Sri Lanka in January this year, Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi had proposed to establish a “forum on the development of Indian Ocean Island Countries”, which is said to be separate outreach by the Chinese government.
The new China-led forum, focused on development, could be interpreted to have been aimed at countering New Delhi’s traditional influence in the IOR where the Indian Ocean Rim Association, (IORA), with India as a founding member, has taken root.
The IORA’s purpose is to strengthen regional cooperation within the Indian Ocean Region and it currently has 23 members and 10 dialogue partners.
China is a dialogue partner in the IORA.
Besides the IORA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean region.
There is also the Indian Navy-backed ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’, which seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the region.
Ties between India and China are at its worst in decades since the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between the border troops of the two countries.
India has consistently maintained that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are critical for the overall development of bilateral relations with China.