In a display of its strategic and diplomatic priority in 2024, India has ramped up efforts in a big way to counter China’s aggressive and expansionist agenda along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and in its immediate and extended neighbourhood. The government’s decision to fast-track construction of “Frontier Highway ‘’ in Arunachal Pradesh and improve border connectivity is a big move being seen by diplomats here as a major strategy that India has firmed up to counter China on the LAC.
Second, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep to promote the islands as tourism hotspot was also part of New Delhi’s larger geopolitical plan to counter not only China-leaning Maldives but also Beijing’s expansionist agenda there. Third, the India-Nepal power pact signed during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Kathmandu this week was another major step by India to upset China’s expansionist plans in the Himalayan nation.
“While PM Modi has asked the agencies concerned and diplomatic establishment to follow up on the developments related to these decisions, the government is also reviewing the status and impact of the military and strategic ties that the US had struck with different Asian countries last year in a bid to counter China,” diplomatic sources told The Sunday Guardian. A source told this newspaper, “Secretary-level diplomats in the Ministry of External Affairs are closely assessing and analyzing the outcome of the efforts made by the US and other Asian partner countries in the year 2023 to contain China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.”
In 2023, the US and Japan unveiled plans to strengthen their military alliance keeping China’s growing aggression in mind. The Philippines announced plans to grant the US military access to four more locations with Beijing’s belligerence in view. South Korea and the US came up with the Washington Declaration that included periodic deployment of US nuclear-armed submarines into the Korean Peninsula. This was also aimed at containing China. The US and Papua New Guinea signed a new security pact. The US and Vietnam had upgraded ties last year when President Joe Biden visited Hanoi. “These are some of the major decisions that the US and different countries in Asia took with the objective to deal with China’s challenge. India is keen to understand and assess the impact and outcome of these pacts and military agreements in the region,” sources said. “The exercise will help India fine-tune its strategy in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean in view of an aggressive China,” a source said.
On the domestic front, the Modi government is in action to ensure that the construction of the frontier highway next to LAC in Arunachal Pradesh is completed as soon as possible. The aim is to complete the project by 2027. Sources say PM Modi wants the project to be completed well before the deadline. A meeting in this regard was chaired by Modi early this week, sources said. “Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu will be updating the PM on the progress about this project,” sources said, adding, “Indian Military and Highways Ministry officials will also be attending regular meetings with the top bureaucrats of PMO on this project so as to shared updates and necessary inputs on the same”. A diplomatic team including officials in the Indian embassy to Beijing will be responding to reactions, if any, from China. In fact, China has long maintained its opposition to the project.
This project will not only bring connectivity and development to the difficult topography of Arunachal Pradesh, but will also mitigate the outmigration from frontier villages in the state. This will also enable the Army to mobilise and deploy quickly along LAC. This highway is just 20-km inside the Indian side of LAC and passes close to Yagtse, site of the bloodiest China-India clash in recent past. The nearly 1700 km long frontier highway project in Arunachal Pradesh will be a strategic project that will help military movement to the LAC. It will also help the military to keep an eye on Chinese activities across the border, says an official.
Similarly, India is working on a big plan in Lakshadweep to deal with challenges resulting from growing closer ties between China and the Maldives. PM Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep was not merely to put the islands on the tourism map but it was also aimed at boosting the geopolitical interests of India. According to officials, the boost to tourism in Lakshadweep will also have ramifications for India’s dynamics with Maldives which has a pro-China government led by President Mohamed Muizzu who has urged New Delhi to withdraw its military presence. Officials say that increased flow of tourists to Lakshadweep following PM Modi’s promotional visit will give India an opportunity to use economics to give a message to the Maldives which have been a long-standing favourite beach destination for Indian tourists. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of the Maldives. In this context, promotion of Lakshadweep as a tourism hotspot is also a strategic move, say officials. This move aligns with India’s larger objectives to counter China’s growing footprints in the Indian Ocean Region.
In another setback to China’s plan to increase influence in Nepal, Kathmandu signed a long-term agreement for the export of 10,000 MW power to New Delhi, and an MoU for cooperation in renewable energy. In fact, China, which has made significant inroads into Nepal through Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI), has set sights on the hydropower sector of the Himalayan nation. But as a result of India’s diplomatic campaign, Nepal preferred to go into a pact with New Delhi only. Jaishankar also gave a positive message to Nepal by choosing the Himalayan nation for his first foreign visit in 2024. EAM Jaishankar is said to have a good rapport with his Nepalese counterpart NP Saud as well.
The Modi government is keen on follow up action related to the power agreement to ensure that all steps are completed soon. India’s strategy is not to give China any loopholes which it could exploit to further its agenda, points out an official.