Why PLA is concerned about Indian expansion of military cooperation with the US

By Chimniii Desk

Published: October 02, 2021

Highlights

In 2021, the Indian Army will deploy 50,000 troops to the border with China, with around 20,000 troops stationed in the Ladakh area.

Recently, authors and analysts in the PLA media have underlined that India is aligning its Act East strategy with the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, seeing an opportunity to cement its supremacy in South Asia and expand its control over the Indian Ocean.

Above all, the possibilities for a real "alliance" between the United States and India are harmed by India's long-standing foreign policy ideology of non-alignment.

As a result, PLA media (and Chinese media more broadly) did not devote as much attention to the 2020-21 clash in Ladakh as Indian media did.

In general, PLA media characterise India's recent actions as indicative of a binary choice between non-alignment and affiliation.

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The PLA is concerned by India's expanding military cooperation with the US.

The Indian military views China as its primary adversary, as Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat stated in a June 2021 interview. In 2021, the Indian Army will deploy 50,000 troops to the border with China, with around 20,000 troops stationed in the Ladakh area. Thus, what is the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) opinion of India? The PLA's media outlets, which include the newspaper PLA Daily and the television show "Defence Review," provide some context. It is concerned about India's expanding military cooperation with the US, but does not believe India to be a significant danger.

Since 2018, the PLA's web media has discussed India's relationship with the US 23 times in its articles and films regarding India. India's defence sector and arms acquisitions have been addressed 21 times. India's increasing connections with the United States have frequently been contrasted with its 13-times-discussed relations with Russia. By contrast, there were surprisingly few in-depth analyses or opinion pieces about the Sino-Indian border dispute, even during the 2020 Ladakh skirmish, with the majority of articles about the issue being brief press releases about meetings to resolve the issue, using language such as "easing tensions," "maintaining communication," and "avoiding misunderstandings."

In general, we may conclude that the PLA does not view India as a key security threat and places a premium on border security. India, it believes, is still committed to its long-standing non-alignment ideology in its ties with the US. While the PLA views India's behaviour in South Asia and the Indian Ocean as more hostile and expansionist, it downplays the extent to which India's activities in these later theatres may go.

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A 2013 book named "Science of Military Strategy" published by the PLA Academy of Military Science in Beijing and translated into English in 2021 by the United States-based China Aerospace Studies Institute addressed India in greater detail than any other recent PLA publication. According to India's military policy following the Cold War, the primary objective has been to develop and retain hegemony and absolute military supremacy over other nations in South Asia, while keeping China and other major powers out of its area of influence. Though published in 2013, the book also predicted an increase in strategic collaboration between the US and India, as well as something comparable to the US' "Indo-Pacific" policy. This, it was projected, would accelerate India's eastward advance, which would eventually connect with Japan's southerly advance, forming "twin arcs" in the Indian and Pacific Oceans that cross in the South China Sea.

Recently, authors and analysts in the PLA media have underlined that India is aligning its Act East strategy with the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, seeing an opportunity to cement its supremacy in South Asia and expand its control over the Indian Ocean. This explains why India has established a network of bases and stations around the Indian Ocean, including Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Maldives, and India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as well as conducting drills with the US near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Wang Xiaopeng, an expert from China's Ocean University, stated on "Defence Review" that in addition to its Act East policy, India under Narendra Modi also pursues a "Southward" policy aimed at gradually gaining control of the Indian Ocean: up to 500 nautical miles beyond its shores should be under India's "absolute" control, 500-1000 miles under "medium" control, and 1,000 miles or more under "limited" control. Increasing strategic collaboration with the US not only enables India to accomplish these goals; it also, according to Wang, "clears the way" for the US in the Indo-Pacific.

Chinese military analysts also view India's proximity to the US and other world powers as a method for India to enhance its weapons and defence systems and achieve its land-based objectives. Regarding the two countries' intelligence cooperation, PLA Military Strategist Du Wenlong stated on "Defence Review" that India might become the "American Eye," a potentially hazardous act with "sinister intents." However, analysts on "Defence Review" believe that recent Indian weaponry acquisitions from the US do not provide India with a substantial edge and are mostly intended to "buy American backing" and local media consumption. Furthermore, Chinese military analysts claim that progress toward implementing US-India defence accords, such as the four basic agreements, has been sluggish, characterised by a lot of talk and little action. As a result, any “alliance” between the United States and India is unlikely to endure.

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Some Chinese military analysts refer to India's recent collaboration with the United States and the United Kingdom as "strategic mutual use" — as opposed to real alliances. India has been increasing its collaboration with these nations in order to acquire access to technological expertise and therefore boost its own defence equipment manufacturing. A critical step in this direction was the signing of the Industrial Security Annex with the United States, which permits American corporations to exchange sensitive technology with private Indian firms. According to a widely held Chinese opinion, the United States is primarily responsible for promoting cooperation with India, owing to its own interests in selling armaments to India (thereby outcompeting Russia) and controlling China. According to one report, the US would aim to “constrict India's military growth to a path that it can control.”

Chinese specialists know, however, that India will not be controlled. New Delhi views itself as a significant power and wishes to leverage its relationship with the United States in order to advance its own military and economic development while retaining strategic autonomy. As India grows in strength, the alliance may confront difficulties. Above all, the possibilities for a real “alliance” between the United States and India are harmed by India's long-standing foreign policy ideology of non-alignment.

India-Russia ties are frequently highlighted in PLA media as a reason India has been unable to build a real partnership with the US. According to Lou Chunhao, a professor at the China Institutes for Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), New Delhi and Moscow have differed on China-US relations and the Indo-Pacific strategy, and as a result, their relationships are going to be less tight than they were previously. They are unlikely to fully separate, however, due to their lack of historical hostility and the fact that they represent no security danger to one another. Additionally, there is significant untapped potential for collaboration in the military and other sectors that the two nations would not want to waste — for example, Russia will want to compete with the US for the Indian weapons market. As one analyst put it in "Defence Review," Russia's recent approach has been to "both beat and pull" India, warning it against being too close to the US while simultaneously providing economic and military cooperation prospects.

Additionally, the PLA media views India's recent military drills around its borders and coastline as indicative of a tendency in its neighbourhood to "provoke larger nations and subjugate smaller countries." Certain weapon purchases and testing (such as the Agni-5 missiles in 2021) are perceived to be more focused towards politics and domestic consumption, with the goal of promoting India's major power status. Surprise assault rehearsals along the Sino-Indian border in 2021, in particular, were criticised by Wang Xiaopeng and Du Wenlong on "Defence Review," who noted that conducting such strikes would be a stupid decision given the unfavourable conditions on India's frontiers. They contended that such drills are largely intended to deflect domestic attention away from other concerns, notably India's attempts to contain the COVID-19 epidemic.

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The PLA, for its part, underlines the importance of maintaining friendly relations with India. According to a 2017 essay published in the journal China Military Science by the PLA Academy of Military Science, while the two nations' border conflict is complex, they should be led by the concept of "maintaining the status quo and cooperative administration and control." A 2019 article in National Defence, another journal published by the PLA Academy of Military Science, discusses the critical nature of securing a maritime supply line that passes through the Strait of Malacca and, by extension, the importance of maintaining friendly relations with India and other countries that border these bodies of water.

As a result, PLA media (and Chinese media more broadly) did not devote as much attention to the 2020-21 clash in Ladakh as Indian media did. On the PLA Daily website, articles on the subject are confined to remarks made by Chinese military commanders in response to meetings with or statements made by their Indian counterparts, with one item chastising Indian media for escalating tensions.

In general, PLA media characterise India's recent actions as indicative of a binary choice between non-alignment and affiliation. While the PLA has seen India as abandoning non-alignment and forming a quasi-alliance with the US since 2013, China's military experts today believe that this cooperation is unlikely to endure. While India's recent land and maritime operations are seen as provocative and indicative of an expansionist tendency, the PLA and its media routinely minimise the threat India poses to China.

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