China’s Maritime Ambition in South Asia vis-à-vis Bangladesh: A Concern for India?

Abstract

In November 2016, Bangladesh purchased two diesel-electric submarines from China at a cost of USD203 million causing its immediate neighbor India substantial anxiety. The maritime dispute between Bangladesh and two of its maritime neighbours—Myanmar and India were resolved in 2012 and 2014 through international arbitration. However, Bangladesh now sees an opportunity to develop ocean economy in the world’s largest Bay. Bangladesh supposedly does not encounter any conventional maritime-military threats therefore the induction of submarines in its navy draws attention of India particularly due to Chinese involvement. The strategic interest of China has changed considerably over the last two decades. After having established in economic, political and military China’s ambition now is to establish a permanent maritime base in the Indian Ocean region. The Bay of Bengal is essential for India as it provides significant leverage against rivals and helps in addressing the security matters that directly intimidate Indian interests. Therefore, China’s consistent efforts to institute a South Asian presence are pivotal in terms of strategic implications. The Chinese strategy is to forge maritime ties with nations like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar through initiatives like the Maritime Silk Route, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and investments on infrastructures. Being the largest and strongest country in South Asia, India has been helping the smaller countries but China has an unambiguous advantage over India due to vast cash reserve amassed of its huge trade surfeit. The policy of China in the South Asian region has a mix of strategic as well as opportunistic aspects. China has been traditionally a continental land power but has changed its interest on becoming a sea power therefore venturing far off seas which poses more like a paradigm shift. Against this backdrop, this paper is an attempt to study Chinese interest in the maritime zone of Indian Ocean region which will progress in three stages. Firstly, following China’s post-Cold War objectives to grow as the mighty power in the sphere of politics, security and economy, the paper explores its interest in enhancing the maritime power. Secondly, the paper particularly focuses on China’s strategic interest in involving with Bangladesh. The paper concludes by analyzing the implications of Beijing’s approach to build a Sino-centric maritime environment in the Indian Ocean vis-à-vis Bangladesh on India.