By Harsh V. Pant
India-China competition in South Asia is as hot as ever, but India could be losing out to China in important ways.
Last week India decided to send five planes and two ships carrying water and machinery parts to Maldives, after drinking water was cut off for more than 100,000 residents in the nation’s capital of Male due to a fire in the city’s only water sewage treatment plant. The Indian Navy’s patrol vessel INS Sukanya carried 35 tons of fresh water and two reverse osmosis plants, which can produce 20 tons of fresh water per day to meet the water crisis in Maldives. India’s large fleet tanker delivered about 900 tonnes of fresh water to the Maldivian capital, while two C-17 planes of the Indian Air Force (IAF) also delivered another 90 tonnes of potable water.
Maldives, located southwest of India in the Indian Ocean, depends entirely on treated seawater as the low-lying island nation has no natural water source . Accordingly, Maldives asked for help from various countries including India, China and the United States. Just a day later, China pointedly sent a military vessel carrying 960 tonnes of fresh water to the Maldives to help with that fresh-water crisis. The Chinese government has also donated $500,000 to Male for the necessary repairs of the country’s damaged desalination plant.
This water diplomacy underlines the power struggle between China and India, which is rapidly shaping the South Asian strategic landscape. Last month the summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Nepal was also marked by this Sino-Indian contest, where India had to work hard to block China’s entry into the grouping.
Read the full story at The Diplomat