US, India explore joint S China Sea naval patrols

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON — The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that an American defence official said could include the disputed South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the waterway.

The proposed plan comes as the White House said early yesterday morning that President Barack Obama would deliver a tough message to China during a summit with Southeast Asian countries next week that disputes over the South China Sea must be resolved through global rules and not through “bullying”.

The US defence official said that Washington and New Delhi had discussed joint patrols, adding that both were hopeful of launching them within the year. The patrols would likely be in the Indian Ocean as well as the South China Sea, the official told Reuters in New Delhi on condition of anonymity.

India and the US have ramped up military ties in recent years, but the Indian navy has never carried out joint patrols with another country. An Indian naval spokesman told Reuters there was no change in the government’s policy of only joining an international military effort under the United Nations flag.

There was no immediate comment from China, which is on a week-long holiday for Chinese New Year.

Neither India nor the US have claims to the South China Sea, but both said they backed freedom of navigation and overflight in the waterway.

Earlier this month, an American diplomat said the US was open to the possibility of joint naval patrols with the Philippines in the disputed area.

The US, a key security ally of Manila, has been critical of Beijing’s increasingly assertive moves to press territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion (S$7 trillion) in ship-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

Recent developments, including China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea, have sparked concern in Washington and across the region that Beijing is trying to militarise its claims in the South China Sea, even though China denies hostile intent.

Late last month, a US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an island claimed by China in the South China Sea to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation, said the Pentagon, prompting an angry reaction from China.

Ahead of next week’s special summit between Mr Obama and Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters yesterday that Mr Obama will specifically discuss with ASEAN leaders his concerns over China’s recent test flights on a newly constructed runway on Fiery Cross Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Although China will not be represented at the special summit in California, from Feb 15-16, White House aides made it clear Beijing’s assertiveness in pressing territorial claims in the South China Sea will be one of the focal points of the multilateral talks.

“The President will call on all claimants to halt land reclamation, construction of new facilities and to carry out no militarisation of outposts in the South China Sea,” Mr Dan Kritenbrink, Mr Obama’s top Asia adviser, told reporters yesterday.

But even as Mr Obama seeks to reassure ASEAN of his resolve, he is expected to face divisions within the 10-member bloc on how far they are willing to go in angering China. The Philippines and Vietnam have taken a harder line, while Cambodia and Laos are more reluctant to confront Beijing.

US officials insist the summit is not about targeting China, but about bolstering economic and security ties with South-east Asia. AGENCIES