Editorial: Geopolitical pawn and tasks cut out

NEW DELHI: Indian security and foreign relations experts must be watching with an eagle eye the developments surrounding the moves of China and the US in using Pakistan as a pawn in their geopolitical games, much to the discomfort of India.

It has been business as usual between Pakistan and China as Beijing continues to help Islamabad modernise its navy and the development of a dual-use deep-sea port in Gwadar in Balochistan.

After a phase of blowing hot and cold, following strikes on Iran, the US has been warming up to Pakistan so much so that in June, soon after India’s Operation Sindoor, it hosted the Pakistani army chief and allowed him to issue a nuclear threat while he was on its soil.

The timing and circumstances — Operation Sindoor and repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he had mediated the ceasefire, among other things — cannot be missed. It reached a point where an otherwise guarded India was constrained to issue a public clarification.

While the Indian government’s responses have been understandably guarded and calibrated, the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, has been quite forthright in alerting the Indian government about the danger posed by the China-Pakistan nexus.

Of the two meetings the committee had held, the second one in June this year was in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, during which the Indian Navy too had played a critical role. The government revealed how the Indian Navy operated as a composite networked force and deployed its Carrier Battle Group (CBG) to maintain “a powerful air defence shield that prevented hostile aerial incursions, especially from the Makran coast”.

India has two tasks cut out for it with regard to IOR and beyond: One, to consolidate its position, and two, to counter Chinese expansion and influence.

Firstly, the committee found some overlaps and ambiguities in the objectives of two major maritime strategies, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All) and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).

Through SAGAR, India strives to be a provider of security to smaller nations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The objective of MAHASAGAR is to expand India’s role, extending to the broader Global South, especially Africa. The committee recommended streamlining the two initiatives for improving alignment, precision, and effectiveness.

Secondly, the committee report titled ‘Evaluation of India’s Indian Ocean Strategy’, which was presented in Parliament, made a strong case for India to bolster its own deterrence capabilities through “upgrading naval assets, boosting anti-submarine warfare capabilities, and expanding strategic partnerships, particularly within the Quad and with IOR littoral states”.

Given the fluid situation, the numerous variables, and the unpredictability in geopolitics, India will often be forced to think on its feet, be nimble-footed while navigating treacherous minefields, be pragmatic and flexible for course correction, or even make U-turns.

The government needs to take the Opposition into confidence and strive for a bipartisan dialogue, as the country cannot afford a misstep. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China is going to test India’s concept of strategic autonomy and the country’s ability to manage complex relationships with the US, Russia, and, of course, China, with which it also has hard-to-resolve border problems.