Heat on China in the Indian Ocean: As France comes calling, why is India the focal point for global powers?

NEW DELHI: Another global power, this time France, is looking to set the ball rolling on increasing its cooperation with New Delhi in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This will be a key area of focus at two upcoming high-level exchanges between France and India set close to each other. The aim undoubtedly is to cut China down to size.

Cooperation in the Indian Ocean will figure prominently in the New Delhi visit of French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, which is set to begin on Friday. French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said today the matter would also occupy a key spot in discussions when French President Emmanuel Macron visits India in early 2018.

Priority to New Delhi-Paris understanding

Ziegler said the focus would be on building up a bilateral security framework between India and France, before Paris can agree to take part in a multilateral forum on security in the Indian Ocean.

"We have specific interests in the region and naval bases in one of the islands. So there is scope for greater cooperation in the region. But we are also open to multilateral cooperation," a French official told news agency PTI.

France has around 10 islands in the region with. The biggest of these is Reunion, which is close to Mauritius. It has military bases on Reunion as well as Djibouti.

The French efforts come close on the heels of the joint meeting that the US, Japan and Australia held with India on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Manila on Tuesday, in what has been termed a 'quadrilateral meet'. China, predictably, reacted badly to the meeting.

Why these countries look to New Delhi for leadership in the IOR

Why these nations are worried about the Indian Ocean is clear - China. Beijing has been getting increasingly aggressive in the South China Sea. 

Another major development that is pressing for a broad Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China in the Indian Ocean is Beijing's attempt to spread its naval muscle. China has never been a seagoing power of any sort of significance. But it recently operationalised a naval base in Djibouti and has agreements with Pakistan for naval support facilities at Gwadar Port.

This is not to mention its provocative seafaring against nations in the region, India included.

China's refusal to follow rules sets off alarm bells

China's aggression and adventurism pose a problem only because it has displayed an unwillingness to play by the rules of the international order. This behaviour includes even the rules it had voluntarily agreed to follow.

This was evidenced by Beijing's rubbishing the orders of the arbitral tribunal on the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) because the ruling went against China.

China's unwillingness to respect the UNCLOS set off alarm bells across the world. This was because UNCLOS assures all nations the right to use shipping routes for commercial purposes. Any challenge to this system for narrow gains by China in the Indian Ocean would have repercussions on global shipping, including key waterways like the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

What is India's stand?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the ASEAN nations, many of whom are locked in territorial counterclaims with China, that India remains committed to a rules-based security framework in the South China Sea.

India is also hosting the heads of all 10 ASEAN nations as joint chief guests for its Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2018. 

India envisions a stabilising role for itself in the Indian Ocean Region. It contributes to the policing of global shipping routes, called Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs), and has been part of the anti-piracy force in the Gulf of Aden region.