Post-Doklam, India asserts itself in China’s backyard 

Post-Doklam, India asserts itself in China’s backyard 

Context

• With the new quadrilateral grouping with U.S., Japan and Australia, India addressed an array of issues ranging from the tension in the Korean peninsula to freedom of navigation and sought a crackdown on chemical weapons during the ASEAN and the East Asia summits.

New Delhi’s position post Doklam

• New Delhi has emerged as a more dependable partner for South-East Asia following the Doklam face-off with China as the South-East Asian countries expect New Delhi to be assertive with Beijing.
• The outcome of the Doklam crisis has shown that India has reached a stage where it can be a resilient strategic and defence partner for them.
• The reason of India’s post-Doklam international image acquires significance in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-on-one meeting with Premier Li Keqiang that was held on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.

India’s concern

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared concerns of DPRK’s pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons and called for complete verification and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
• The North Korean threats was part of a new Indian set of concerns that also covers major global issues like terrorism by the Islamic State and its capability to inflict mass casualties, and tensions in the South China Sea that concern the world as well as India.
• The situation in the South China Sea also featured in the statement of Prime Minister Modi in the ASEAN who asked for upholding of the ‘rules based regional security architecture.’
• India remains concerned about China’s man-made structures in the South China Sea that are likely to create navigational problems and international friction.
• India also pushed for a total ban on chemical weapons in the region and for an end to terrorist financing.