India, US oppose China’s bid on South China Sea code

India has joined the United States to oppose China’s move to tweak the proposed Code of Conduct on the South China Sea in order to keep its rivals and other nations outside the region away from the disputed waters.

The United States has endorsed India as the net provider of security in the Indian Ocean region, where China has been trying to spread its tentacles over the past few years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and American President Donald Trump also sent out a message to China, underscoring in a joint statement that a close partnership between their two nations was “central to a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.

“Cooperation between India and the US at the global level is founded on our common democratic values and objectives, especially in the Indo-Pacific region and other global commons,” Prime Minister said, as he and US President addressed mediapersons after a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Trump left New Delhi for Washington D.C. late on Tuesday at the end of a two-day state visit to India. He and Modi discussed ways to step up cooperation between India and the US as well as with Japan and Australia to counter China’s expansionist aspiration in Indo-Pacific region.

The leaders of India and the United States took note of the efforts being made to work out a meaningful Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which has been at the centre of an escalating conflict between China and its maritime neighbours in South East Asia. They “solemnly urged” that the Code of Conduct should “not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations according to international law”, said a joint statement issued after the meeting.

New Delhi and Washington D.C. are concerned over China's recent move to tweak the proposed South China Sea Code of Conduct, which it has been negotiating with the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations). Beijing has of late been stepping up pressure on the ASEAN to agree on a Code of Conduct, which could restrict US, Japan, India and the other nations outside the region from engaging in maritime security cooperation with the South East Asian nations and exploring resources in the South China Sea.

If China manages to get all the clauses proposed by it included in the Code of Conduct, the ASEAN nations may have to get prior clearance from Beijing for joint military drills in the South China Sea with the US, Japan, India or any other nations outside the region.

It may also make it difficult for ONGC Videsh Limited of India and similar entities of other nations to continue the exploration of hydrocarbon and other resources in and around the disputed waters.

The Code of Conduct was necessitated after Beijing started building artificial islands in the South China Sea in 2014. China also started building military facilities, including airstrips and radar towers, on the artificial islands, ostensibly to get a strategic edge in the disputed waters. China had initially been reluctant to enter into any negotiation with the ASEAN for Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. It, however, finally agreed to start the negotiation in May 2017. The communist country is now trying to turn the Code of Conduct its favour, so that it can keep dominating the disputed South China Sea.