By Nishat Shuja

In August 2021, China successfully started a cargo run from Myanmar’s Yangon Port all the way to China’s Yunnan Province and soon it will have entree to the Indian Ocean from the Myanmar port sides.

China has a long history of helping the military rulers of Myanmar by avoiding sanctions. China is investing through the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that starts from Yunnan Province to the Indian Ocean port of Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar.

The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) will definitely facilitate the China’s navy, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), to out play India in the Bay of Bengal. It will also let China’s oil shipments to evade the Strait of Malacca, which is being guarded and watched by the United States (US) Navy’s Seventh Fleet.

Although, the US and India appear to be at the opposite directions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two have a shared interest to stop the China from gaining advancements in the Indian Ocean.

India is adopting a balance behavior between its long-term ally Russia and US also. Over the past few years, the United States has intensified its alliance with India through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and other initiatives also. Still, the Ukraine crisis is litmus case for US to contain India from supporting Ukraine.

China is growing its navy so that it can control seas and displace the US Navy as the world’s most powerful navy. There is concern in New Delhi that China’s threats to India’s maritime domain are increasing, and that India should increase its naval capabilities to counter that.

At any one time, there can now be as many as 125 foreign vessels in the Indian Ocean, the most since World War II. Speaking during his first press conference in December 2021, India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral said that the Indian navy might be tracking up to three PLAN ships at any given moment.

In order to meet the challenge of China, India needs to build up its naval power. However, when it comes to India’s military funding, the Navy always receives only a fraction of the budget it asks for. On average, India spends 15 per cent of its military budget on its navy despite having only three branches of the military, while the US, with six branches, spends 30 per cent on the navy.

The amount China spends on the PLAN is not clear. However, China’s total defense spending of US$252 billion is more than three times the US$72.9 billion India spends on its military.

Realizing the need to address that, New Delhi increased the navy budget by 44.53 per cent this year. Currently, the Indian Navy has only 130 vessels, many of which are two decades old. So while the increase in funding is a welcome move in the right direction, the situation is far from resolved.

To Prevent China from gaining control of the Indian Ocean may necessitate the US adopting a new Indian Ocean policy and deepening its involvement with India through the QUAD and other initiatives. The US is in a position to coordinate with New Delhi by supporting the development of India’s economic, political, and military power.

However, Washington will have to assess whether India’s ties to Russia overshadow the help that New Delhi can give the US in countering China. Similarly, India will have to decide if gaining US support against China is worth ending its relationship with Russia.

Myanmar gives enormous access and significant presence to Beijing towards the Bay of Bengal region of the Indian Ocean to expand its ambitions and also eluding the narrow chokepoints of the Straits of Malacca to safeguard its self from unwanted skirmishes with hostile nations.