China’s Global Times Points To Why India Refuses Joint Patrol with the U.S. in the South China Sea

PRESS RELEASE

China’s Global Times Points to Why India Refuses Joint Patrol with the U.S. in the South China Sea

March 1, 2016 (EIRNS)—Responding to India’s official refusal to join a joint patrol with the United States in the South China Sea, an op-ed by Wang Dehua in China’s state-run Global Times appeared yesterday, saying that "the fundamental reason is that New Delhi understands the significance of a sound China-India relationship to the nation’s development. India cannot afford to lose China’s support, which serves as an economic engine for the nation’s growth.

"In addition, New Delhi has officially taken over the presidency of the BRICS ... from Moscow last month and will host the eighth summit in a few months’ time. A friendly atmosphere is significant for the upcoming summit,"

continued Wang, who is from the Institute for South and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Center for International Studies. "By refusing the U.S. proposal, India is taking a stand and showing goodwill to China."

Press Trust of India, the state-owned media agency, which covered the op-ed, pointed out that this is the second signed editorial commentary that had appeared in the Chinese press within a week, following a Reuters news article that India and the United States were engaged in discussing the joint patrol in the South China Sea, and New Delhi’s subsequent denial of the talks. On Feb. 25, the Global Times carried an op-ed by director of the Center for Indian Studies at China West Normal University, Long Xingchun, who wrote that India should focus more on building "harmonious bilateral military relations" with China because of the long-standing border dispute, which it sees as the biggest security challenge. "India needs to develop more friends instead of making more enemies," Long wrote in that op-ed.

"Conducting joint naval patrols with Washington in the South China Sea will do nothing but showing its hostility against Beijing and devastate their strategic mutual trust, which will also compel the Chinese government to adopt changes in its India policy,"

Long wrote.