By Karan Pradhan
India needs to carefully consider its strategic moves in the Asia-Pacific.
On July 2, the U.S. Department of Defense released the ‘National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2015 [PDF],’ and a few weeks earlier, on May 26, China too unveiled its defence white paper, titled China’s Military Strategy. Both reports are an annual exercise, and this year’s documents reflect adjustments in military strategy necessitated by geopolitical changes, such as China’s growing global power status, the proliferation of Islamist terrorist organisations, and a resurgence of Cold War rivalries.
Soon, Japan too will release its annual defence paper, and the Japanese media has already carried reports about an outline of the paper; Russia is also adjusting its existing defence strategy.
All these white papers provide an insight into how each country now perceives a changing world, geopolitically and technologically, and how its policies will adapt to these changes.
Read together, the American and Chinese papers, as well as the Japanese outline, indicate that the Asia-Pacific region has become a major strategic intersection and could be the location of a major conflict in the future.
Within the region, the likely flashpoints will be around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Spratly Islands, and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Beijing stakes territorial claims to parts of these islands, and a likely scenario will include China as the aggressor, and the U.S. supporting the counter efforts of other countries.
Any turmoil in the Asia-Pacific region has the potential to impact India, as it has trade and security interests in the region, and the main actors—China, Japan and the U.S—are all important partners for India.
Read the full story at The Diplomat