China has the potential to, and is outspending India with its string-of-pearls strategy to encircle India
NEW DELHI: China has given over one of its Ming-class diesel-electric submarines to Myanmar, bolstering China’s growing influence and presence in India’s immediate vicinity.
On December 24, the type 035B submarine was commissioned into the Myanmar Navy as UMS Min Ye Kyaw Htin in a ceremony presided over by military junta chief senior general minister Aung Hlaing.
The submarine’s commissioning coincided with Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla’s visit to Myanmar on December 22 and 23, marking India’s first high-level visit to the country since the Hlaing-led State Administration Council ousted the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government in a February coup.
The Ming-class submarine is Myanmar’s second submarine, following India’s transfer of the INS Sindhuvir, a Russian-built submarine, to the country in October of last year, as reported by TOI at the time.
In 2016, Bangladesh accepted two Ming-class submarines from China at a heavily discounted price, notwithstanding the ongoing fight between India and China over strategic space in the local and extended vicinity, particularly the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
“In its outreach to our neighbors, from the Maldives to Nepal, India lacks the substantial finances and local defense industry base to rival China…
“However, we must maintain our efforts,” a senior official stated.
“The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) already exists, with the goal of linking China’s remote Yunnan province to the IOR. China’s multibillion-dollar BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) is systematically entrapping countries with debt-trap policies. He went on to say, “Some of them are aware of this.”
Despite the hard-line stance of western countries led by the United States against Naypyidaw, India has steadily increased military ties with Myanmar, the only ASEAN country with which it shares a 1,643-kilometer land and maritime border.
