AUSINDEX-17 - why should China bellyache?

June 23, 2017Photo(s): By Indian Navy

By Lt. General P.C. Katoch (Retd)
Former Director General of Information Systems, Indian Army

AUSINDEX-17, the joint India-Australia naval exercise was conducted from 13 to 17 June in the Indian Ocean. Every time India conducts / participates in bilateral / multilateral naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific, China goes bellyaching. After India and Singapore held joint naval warfare drills together in the South China Sea (SCS) during May 2017 which is an annual engagement, propaganda videos were circulated among Singapore's Chinese-origin citizens criticizing Singapore's participation in the joint maneuvers. One of the videos even referred to Singapore as a "small country with people having yellow skin and black heart" for choosing to have stronger ties with the US and India insteadof China. The exercise incidentally was part celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties between India and Singapore, which is India's closest partner in the ASEAN. Earlier, when India-US-Japan held the Malabar-2016 exercise in Western Pacific, China had belched out plenty criticism. This is just bullying considering China herself participates in joint naval exercises periodically in close vicinity of India.

In June 2017 itself China has held joint naval exercises with Pakistan off the coast of Karachi, as also with the Iranian Navy in the strategic Straits of Hormuz. AUSINDEX is a bilateral maritime exercise with the Australian Navy, aimed to enhance inter-operability and cooperation between the two forces. Indian naval ships Shivalik, Jyoti and Kamorta participated in AUSINDEX-17. The first AUSINDEX was conducted in 2015 in the Bay of