India Is Turning Up The Heat On China - And Not Just In Its Neighbourhood
AUTHORS : HARSH V. PANT | SAYANTAN HALDAR
Originally Published NDTV Published on Aug 01, 2024
The week gone by has been a busy period for India in the Indo-Pacific. India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, attended the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Laos and the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Japan. Jaishankar's visit to Laos also featured a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, following their last meeting at Astana earlier this year. The context for Jaishankar's visit was set by India's enduring pushback against China in key arenas of its interest. Arguably, China remains the pre-eminent concern for India's national security planners. India's China challenge is multipronged, with unresolved border conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as well as Beijing's expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean. China's more recent overtures in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the South China Sea region, have also compelled India's Quad partners and several Southeast Asian countries to intensify measures to counterbalance Beijing. Thus, the China question was a natural focal point for Jaishankar during both Laos and Japan visits.
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IRSEA IS PARTNER OF ORF. Professor Harsh V. Pant is Honorary Member of the Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies – IRSEA.
The opinions expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or view of IRSEA