'India's entry into S.China Sea aimed at countering China'

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Watching warily India's decision to go ahead with oil exploration cooperation with Vietnam in the South China Sea despite objections from Beijing, Chinese analysts say it is New Delhi's counter-strategy to checkmate the forays being made by China into its neighbourhood.

India's efforts to firm up oil exploration cooperation with Vietnam in the South China Sea, which China claims as its own is a provocative move to show its annoyance over Beijing building up close ties with countries like Myanmar and Pakistan, said Shen Dingli, director of the Centre for American Studies of Institute of International Studies at China's Fudan University.

"In recent years, China has also been building up ties with countries like Myanmar. Pakistan invited China to provide safety protection and offered China a naval port on the Indian Ocean. All these moves made India feel nervous," Shen told state-run Global Times.

Ever since the Indian firm ONGC took up oil exploration in two blocks in the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, the Chinese official media has extended proactive coverage to it calling on the government to firmly handle it to reassert its supremacy in the region.

Besides China, the disputed waters in the South China Sea are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia and contain rich oil reserves, estimated up to 28 billion barrels.

The joint exploration between India and Vietnam is not accidental since in recent years India has taken an increasingly eastward-looking stance, Wu Xinbo, Professor at the Centre for American Studies, Fudan University, said.

As a South Asian country, India actively takes part in East Asian issues through the support of the US which has been advocating for Asian countries to counter China.

"The US takes every opportunity to counter China, and its joint military manoeuvres with Japan and other regional countries have been more frequent in recent years," Wu said.

This project helped India kill two birds with one stone. It will bring economic benefits to India and at the same help it to balance out China politically, Wu said.

Rong Ying, the vice-president of the China Institute of Strategic Studies, attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however advocated that India and China should carefully handle the issue considering the advances they made in their relations.

Twenty first century belongs to Asia Pacific region and India and China are the most important countries whose leaders have been saying that the world is big enough for both, he told state-run CCTV.

The countries have come a long way in improving their relations and should carefully handle their differences, he said.