South China Sea: India sends warships as ‘subtle reminder’ to Beijing

Southeast Asia welcomes India’s presence ‘with open arms’ as a way of counterbalancing China’s growing assertiveness, say New Delhi-based observers

Germany also separately dispatched warships to the region earlier this month to support the ‘international rules-based order’, its defence chief said

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Guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi of the Indian Navy arrives in Singapore on May 6 to strengthen “friendship and cooperation”. Photo: X/Sajidaxyz

Published: 5:30pm, 20 May 2024Updated: 3:56pm, 21 May 2024

India has dispatched warships to the South China Sea this month, in a move engineered to send Beijing “subtle reminders” about the importance of upholding international law, analysts say.

Though there is a danger that the ships could provoke an “aggressive response” from China, New Delhi-based observers told This Week in Asia that the region welcomed India’s presence “with open arms”.

Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi, fleet tanker INS Shakti and submarine hunter INS Kiltan arrived in Singapore on May 6 to strengthen “friendship and cooperation”, Indian navy spokesman Commander Vivek Madhwal said at the time.

The INS Kiltan then sailed on to Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay, arriving on May 12 for exchanges and a joint maritime exercise with the Vietnamese navy. That same day, the INS Delhi and INS Shakti arrived at Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu to take part in maritime drills.

Separately, Germany dispatched two warships on May 7 to show a “presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order” amid rising regional tensions, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

Fighter jets fly over the Berlin-class replenishing ship A 1412 Frankfurt am Main of the German Navy as it leaves its home port on May 7 for deployment to the Indo-Pacific. Photo: AFP

Such naval deployments served as “subtle reminders to Beijing about the importance of adhering to international norms and respecting maritime law”, said Abhijit Singh, head of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank’s Maritime Policy Initiative, adding that they were “important signals of international concern regarding violations”.