Indian experts speculate about the “unpleasant message” that the Joe Biden government is trying to convey this week following the unauthorized entry of a US warship into India’s special economic zone.
The seventh fleet of the US Navy made public last Wednesday (7). The United States Navy alleged that the movement was intended to claim rights and freedom of navigation without requesting prior consent from India.
The effort by the US Navy to claim navigation rights in the direction of Lakshadweep archipelago about 130 nautical miles west, without the prior consent of New Delhi, drew strong reactions from India’s top strategists.
Brahma Chelani, strategic thinker, writer and commentator, highlighted the difference between American “freedom of navigation” operations in disputed waters and did so in the waters of a fellow nation without notice.
Nothing in UNCLOS (which the US has not confirmed as well) does not allow military activities in other countries’ EEZs. It is one thing for the US to conduct “freedom of navigation” operations in disputed waters, as in the SCS, it is another to do so in the EEZ of a partner country without its consent. pic.twitter.com/dpiNRUNJ4a
– Brahma Chelani (@Chellaney) 9 April 2021
Nothing on UNCLOS (which the United States has also confirmed) allows military activities in other countries’ EEZs. It is one thing for the United States to conduct “freedom of navigation” operations in disputed waters, such as in the South China Sea, to do so in the EEZ of a partner country without your consent.
The statement issued by the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy stated that “freedom of navigation operations is not about a country”.
“Either this is a big misunderstanding or a new US administration wants to send a very unpleasant message”, wrote Bhutanese editor Tenzing Lamsang on his Twitter account.
In light of this, former Indian minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Subramanian Swamy sarcastically said, “Wow! Great achievement by Modi government: America is giving up our claim to our maritime sector. See American language . That means the S-400 is coming to India “.
© Sputnik / Yevgeny Biatov
Anti-aircraft defense system S-400 Triumph SAM (left) during rehearsal of the military parade held in Albino on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, to commemorate the 76th anniversary of victory in the Great War for the Fatherland
Despite US sanctions and threats in New Delhi on several occasions, the Narendra Modi government has decided to go ahead with a $ 5.43 billion (over $ 30 billion) deal related to the purchase of the air defense system S-400 from Russia. The first batch of missiles are expected to reach India by the end of this year.
US should ‘subscribe to order to protect rules’
Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian foreign secretary, said that the United States should follow the order based on the rules it defends.
Former Indian Navy Chief Arun Prakash asserted that India has ratified the 1995 law of the United Nations, while the United States has not yet done so. Prakash challenged the US to reveal the true intentions behind the action in a post on his Twitter account.
There is irony here. While India ratified UN law in 1995, the US has so far failed to do so. It is bad enough for the 7th Fleet to complete the FoN mission in the Indian EEZ in violation of our domestic law. But promoting it? USN Please switch to IFF! https://t.co/8qyUkd4mK4
– Arun Prakash (@ arunp2810) 9 April 2021
There is irony here. While India ratified the United Nations Act in 1995, the United States has not yet done so. For the 7th Fleet in violation of our domestic law, for the freedom of navigation missions in the Indian EEZ, it is quite poor. But publicize it? US Navy, turn on the friend-foe detection button!
Former Naval Officer Abhijeet Singh Positioned themselves, On Friday (9), on Twitter, describing the freedom of navigation operations near the Andaman Islands to be more “strategic”, would have been more controversial. Leading thinkers found it strange to refer to the language used by the Seventh Fleet as a strange companion, as it claimed that it held the freedom of navigation operations “defying India’s excessive maritime claims” .
Retired Admiral Arun Prakash, former head of the Indian Navy, noted that the purpose of such US operations in the South China Sea is to convey to Beijing that the alleged EEZ around the artificial islands is “an excessive maritime claim.” And so, the question. , What would be the American message to India in this situation.
