NEW DELHI : The rise of China is a major disruption, Indian ForeignSecretary S. Jaishankar said late Thursday, in comments that mirrored thosemade by U.S. Pacific Commander (PACOM) Admiral Harry Harris.
“One big disruption is the rise of China, then the posture of the U.S., thechallenge of terrorism, and the fourth would be the implications ofnon-market economics. We are seeing the rise of a very different power,whether the rise is a model for others is certainly a question,” Mr.Jaishankar said. He was speaking at the concluding session of the RaisinaDialogue, organised jointly by the Ministry of External Affairs and theObserver Research Foundation.
However, he said, disruption was positive in many ways. “China has in a wayopened up the international order, which allowed India to make its presencefelt,” he said.
Observing that the region west of India was unstable while the region tothe east of India was stable and focussed on growth, Mr. Jaishankar saidIndia had “absorbed all the pressures from the West” so that the nations inthe east remained stable.
Earlier in the day, the former Afghanistan President, Hamid Karzai, saidChina was a huge reality in this region and the world. “We know China is agood friend of Pakistan, but so is the U,S. We don’t have a problem beingfriends., even with Pakistan,” he said.
The Navy chiefs and senior naval officials of the ‘Quad’ countries flaggedthe increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and stressed theimportance of multilateral mechanisms to maintain peace in the region. “Thereality is China is the disruptive force in the Indo-Pacific region. Thetrust deficit that exists in the region should be addressed by China,” saidAdmiral Harry Harris.
Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said China had been making increasingforays in the Indian Ocean in the name of anti-piracy and the scenario waslikely to continue. “On overseas bases, it is an open question, but Chinahas invested money in port facilities. But they are economically unviable,”he said.
Admiral Lanba said the region was facing a deficiency of trust and fear ofinsecurity and called for trust between countries and transparentinter-operability.
Japan’s Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano said it was difficult to change China’saggressive policy and if it continued violating international norms, itwould be isolated. The One Belt One Road initiative seemed to be an“economic initiative,” but with military aspects.
Orignally published by INP