“Welcome to the South China Sea, Foxtrot-47,” buzzed a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate to the INS Shivalik (F47).
For the next 12 hours, the Chinese warship would provide an unscheduled
escort to the four Indian vessels. The PLAN frigate was aware that the
four ships were also going to visit Shanghai later in the month during
their month-long tour; yet that they insisted on providing an escort
through what India and other countries view as international waters
underscored for officials how Beijing increasingly views one of the
world's most important waterways.
“The tone of the message was welcoming, but was also as though we were
entering Chinese waters,” said an official who did not want to be named.
The Chinese ship left the Shivalik's side after 12 hours, revealing
that it had been instructed to move away by the PLAN.
After port calls in Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea and
Japan, the four Indian Navy ships arrived here on Wednesday, berthing
in the famous Shanghai harbour under the shadow of the distinct skyline
of Pudong, the financial district.
The month-long travels of the four ships, led by the indigenously built
guided missile stealth frigate Shivalik, have reflected India's
increasing interest in protecting its maritime interests in the
Asia-Pacific, coming amid rising tensions between China and many of its
neighbours over the disputed waters and islands of the South China Sea.
Delayed policy
“India's Look East policy was delayed for many years,” acknowledged
Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of the
Eastern Naval Command, who came in from India for the port calls in
China and Japan, signalling the particular importance of the two
countries.
“We were not here extending our hand of friendship to all the nations,
so some years ago we consciously decided that we must participate and
cooperate more with all nations to the east of India,” he said,
describing the visit as “an attempt to bring peace and stability to the
region to our east.”
Building navy-to-navy ties with China is the focus of the Shanghai stop,
which, officials said, marked the biggest-ever such exercise with
China. Two ships from the eastern fleet visited the northern port of
Qingdao in 2007, but officials viewed the stop in Shanghai, China's most
important port city, as being of greater significance.
Both countries will this year hold a first-ever maritime dialogue, and
have also stepped up coordination in joint anti-piracy exercises in the
Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. But renewed tensions in the South
China Sea, where Chinese ships are in a stand-off with the Philippines
at the Scarborough Shoal and have had run-ins with Vietnamese vessels,
have emerged as a new challenge with competing interests over a crucial
international waterway.
With the naval ships making ports of call in Vietnam and the Philippines
— two countries with which China has had recent strains — the
Vice-Admiral stressed that India's “relationships are not at the cost of
anybody else” and that there were no “specific reasons” for the port
calls. India supported “freedom of navigation in all waters in the seven
seas,” he said, and believed bilateral issues between nations “should
be resolved peacefully as per international law and international
maritime law.”
Over four days, he will have talks with the head of the Chinese eastern
fleet and the Shanghai garrison. “It is only by exchange and interaction
with each other will we be able to get more cooperation, more trust,
more friendship between the two nations and their navies,” he said,
adding India welcomed more Chinese vessels to make visits this year
following last month's port of call by the PLAN's Zheng He in Kochi.
New carrier next year
Asked by a Chinese journalist about on-going trials of the new aircraft
carrier INS Vikramaditya and whether it would be deployed in the
Asia-Pacific, the Vice-Admiral said the new carrier “will come by next
year.” “For an aircraft carrier, by virtue of its capability, it does
not matter at which side it is based because it has a long freedom of
action and it can be deployed in any place,” he said.
Rear Admiral P. Ajit Kumar, Flag Officers Commanding Eastern Fleet
(FOCEF), who led the four ships, hoped four days of interactions would
be “fruitful” and he had been received warmly by the PLAN. “Interactions
will enhance mutual understanding and friendship,” PLAN Rear Ad
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