IndiaTheNews Exclusive: What message is China trying to give to India by organizing Indian Ocean Region Forum?

This week in IndiaTheNews News Network’s special program Shaurya Path, we wanted to know from Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) that China will organize the second conference of the Indian Ocean Region Forum this week, how do you see it? He said that India is keeping an eye on China’s activities in this region. He said that the Indian Ocean is a major trade route for the entire world, hence China wants to establish its dominance over it, but India, America and other powers of the world will never allow China’s plans to be fulfilled. He said that in view of China’s increasing influence especially on India’s neighboring countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives, the Indian government will have to be very alert and will have to help in some way or the other the countries which are participating in this conference of China. So that he can get out of the influence of China.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that as far as this conference is concerned, China is organizing the second conference of the Indian Ocean Region Forum this week in an effort to strengthen its influence in the strategic waters close to India. It is an initiative to bring together many countries. Last year, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organization of the leadership group of China’s ruling Communist Party, hosted the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation (CIORFDC) in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China, he said. A meeting was organized. He said that CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, former Deputy Foreign Minister and Ambassador to India.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that CIDCA claimed that the conference was attended by Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, 19 countries including Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia will participate. Australia and the Maldives later denied their participation, he said. He said that India was not invited to the meeting. He said the Chinese forum is clearly aimed at countering India’s strong influence in the Indian Ocean region, where India-backed organizations such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) have taken strong roots.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that 23 countries are included in IORA. China is a dialogue partner in IORA, formed in 1997. He said that apart from IORA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed “Security and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) in 2015 for active cooperation among the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean Region. He said the Indian Navy-supported ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among the navies of the region.