US for joint patrol in South China Sea

New Delhi, February 10

The United States and India have held talks about conducting joint naval patrols that a US defence official said could include the disputed South China Sea, a move that would most likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the waterway.

Washington wants its regional allies and other Asian nations to take a more united stance against China over the South China Sea, where tension has spiked in the wake of Beijing’s construction of seven man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago.

India and the US have ramped up military ties in recent years, holding naval exercises in the Indian Ocean that last year involved the Japanese navy.

But the Indian Navy has never carried out joint patrols with another country and a naval spokesman said there was no change in the government policy of only joining an international military effort under the United Nations flag. He pointed to India’s refusal to be part of anti-piracy missions involving dozens of countries in the Gulf of Aden and instead carrying out its own operations there since 2008.

The US defence official said the two sides had discussed joint patrols, adding that both were hopeful of launching these operations within a year. The patrols would likely be in the Indian Ocean where the Indian Navy is a major player as well as the South China Sea, the official said.

The official gave no details on the scale of the proposed patrols. There was no immediate comment from China, which is on a week-long holiday for Chinese New Year. — Reuters