Description
Book SynopsisThe tensions in the South China Sea pose considerable challenges to the rules-based liberal international maritime order. The situation demonstrates the interplay between maritime nationalism and geostrategic rivalry; fuelling militarisation and endangering freedom of navigation, over-flight and exploitation of natural resources. Chinaâs dedicated terraclaims, land reclamation and island-building spree â enhanced with military surveillance, communications and logistics infrastructure-building in the form of port facilities, military installations and airstrips â have escalated these tensions. China declares that these territories are an integral part of its core interests, taking an uncompromising stance on the question of sovereignty and its determination to protect the domain militarily. India, although not a South China Sea littoral state, sees both the general principle of the rules-based order and the specific issue of navigation between the Indian and Pacific Oceans as core to
Table of Contents
1. India and the South China Sea: A Strategic Mirror of Chinese Hegemony 2. The Structural Intractability of Rival Claims to Sovereignty in the South China Sea 3. ASEAN–China Diplomatic Dissension and India’s Interests 4. Indian Strategy and the Military Dimension of the South China Sea Dispute 5. The Implications for India of Great Power Shifts in Priorities: The Positions of Trump and Abe 6. Conclusion
