Time for a 'Modi Doctrine' to Counter China in Indian Ocean: Report

Writing in The Sunday Guardian, Michael Rubin, Director of Policy Analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC, stated that when PM Modi came to power in 2014, India was the 10th largest economy in the world and now it is the fourth largest in the world.

He mentioned that India's adversaries, including China and Pakistan, will not accept its rise quietly and will try to constrain New Delhi through asymmetric ways.

"These challenges suggest that, as India rises, Modi must establish a regional doctrine and security doctrine commensurate with India's economic infrastructure and role in the world. In short, it is time for a Modi Doctrine akin to the US Monroe Doctrine. President James Monroe declared the United States would be the preeminent power in the Western hemisphere and that the United States would not tolerate European militaries and interference in the region," wrote Rubin.

Rubin stated that a "Modi doctrine" might similarly protect the countries of the Indian Ocean region from the predatory ambitions of China.

"A Modi Doctrine would not impede freedom of navigation and lawful commerce. But Chinese debt diplomacy in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Kenya and its salivation of bribing and co-opting politicians in the Maldives and Mauritius aims at neo-colonialism. China might pursue Belt-and-Road ports and port facilities in Colombo, Hambantota, Chittagong, Kyaukphyu, and Bagamoyo, but India should use all its diplomatic and economic leverage to extract the Chinese. Nor are Chinese-funded port projects the only inroads of Chinese exploitation and imperial ambition," he wrote in The Sunday Guardian.

Highlighting that Chinese fishing fleets poach fishing beds, violate exclusive economic zones and pursue unsustainable practices, Rubin opined that the Indian Navy should help defend all Indian Ocean basin countries from Chinese predation.

"More than 280 crore people living in countries bordering the Indian Ocean will depend on the security India can provide. Chinese ships might pass through its waters, but they should have no base or dual use military facility in the region. Regional security and small state sovereignty and independence require India to be the paramount power," he wrote.

- IANS