How India controls China's main Weakness: The Malacca Strait

the Indian Ocean is one of the most strategic Seas on the globe so much so that Alfred Mahan perhaps the United States most influential strategic thinker famously declared that whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia this is because the Indian Ocean connects five continents Africa Antarctica Asia Oceania and Europe a significant portion of the world's busiest sea lines of communication slots in short pass through the Indian Ocean these locks not only facilitate the movement of Warships from one theater to another but they also enable the navigation of commercial vessels that transport the appliances we use daily and the energy sources that power them in fact chances are that this very video is being streamed through an underwater internet cable laid beneath one of these locks India occupies a strategic position on the Indian Ocean region ior as it sits between its main bottlenecks to the West The Straits of Hormuz and Baba Mandel are essential for the trade of oil products and merchandise to the South between the lock should weep and Maldives archipelagos lies the so-called eight-degree Channel which serves as a bottleneck for slots connecting Europe Africa the Middle East and Asia finally to the east through the ataman and nicobar archipelago India controls the Western Gateway into the Malacca Strait the main connection point between the Indian and Pacific Oceans this last one is of particular importance in the possible confrontation between the U.S and China in the event of an unlikely invasion of Taiwan the Malacca Strait will be one of the first regions to see a flare-up in tensions [Music] in many ways India's foreign policy is embodied by the adaman and nicobar Islands which sit at the root of its Malacca dilemma should India enter the conflict between China and the United States and if so on whose side should it stand as we'll see further in the video India's strategic location in the ior coupled with its control of the Malacca Strait gives it the potential to shape the geopolitical landscape of their region foreign if on the surface it appears that New Delhi is attempting to maintain a neutral position between two contenders joining the quad against China while supporting mauritius's claims of Diego Garcia against the U.S in reality however India is quite pragmatic in deciding which side to take but to understand India's role we first need to understand the importance of these islands for both China and the US especially in view of a possible confrontation there are three main factors that explain why these islands are so strategic for both countries trade oil product supplies and force projection from Japan to China the majority of Asia's economies are dependent on sea trade the world's Bank estimate that for China and Japan trade accounts for 37 percent of their GDP and Korea that spikes up to 80 percent The Lion's Share of this traffic hinges on navigation through the Malacca Strait fifty percent of global and 40 percent of China's sea trade steam through the Malacca Strait each year this Reliance is even greater for oil and gas Imports which are essential in the energy production and transportation sectors about 60 percent of beijing's total crude oil consumption pass through the Malacca or Sunda Straits similarly South Korea and Japan import close to 80 and 90 respectively of crude oil from the west of the Malacca Strait the U.S also depends on the Malacca Strait if Beijing relies on this choke point for its own economy and energy supplies Washington needs the Malacca straight transit to supply its allies in the region in the last decade the United States has become the world's top oil and gas producer thanks to the economization of shale deposits this means that U.S allies in the region now depend on U.S oil South Korea and Taiwan import around 12 and 16 percent of crude oil from the U.S while Japan Imports 16.3 percent of gas the majority of U.S oil production happens in the Gulf of Mexico meaning that tankers take the indo-atlantic route relying on the passage on the Malacca Strait the protection of trade and oil supply lines is of Paramount importance to both China and the United States as such both countries value the ability to project force in the Indian Ocean region the ior in the case of a conflict China's interests would be to protect its supply lines while denying those of U.S allies such as Taiwan and Japan and vice versa for America to this end maintaining a stable presence close to strategic choke points which are the most efficient access to Nile points is a sound strategy for both countries on one side Washington has the widest network of overseas bases in the world in the Indian Ocean region alone it has bases in close proximity to almost all of the critical bottlenecks the fifth Fleet HomePort in Bahrain sitting close to the Hormuz Strait Camp lemonade and Djibouti being less than 100 miles from the babelman Deb Strait Diego Garcia at one end of the eight degree Channel nakshatweep Maldives chagos island chain and Johnny based in Singapore right in front of the narrowest point in the Malacca Strait us allies also control other choke points such as Australia's killings Islands which increase Maritime awareness in the southwestern part of the Indonesian Straits like the U.S China is developing a network of overseas bases in the indo-pacific referred to as strategic strong points in 2017 the pla created its first logistical base in Djibouti which became fully operational in late March 2022 hosting the first Port call of a planned supply vessel other overseas bases are being discussed with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa the Middle East the Indian Ocean region and Southeast Asia the most likely candidate is the Rheem naval base in Cambodia which is situated 640 miles from the Malacca Strait around half the distance from the Hainan island where the majority the planned Southern Fleet is headquartered from a Chinese perspective it is important to maintain its supplies passing through the Malacca Strait while potentially disrupting those Bound for Taiwan and Japan from Washington's standpoint the Malacca Strait is a strategic point in the event of a confrontation with China in the case of an invasion on Taiwan they could easily disrupt 60 percent of Chinese crude oil consumption so why is India so important in all of this geographically speaking India's adamant and nicobar archipelagos form a barrier between the atom and sea and the Indian Ocean effectively holding the keys to the Malacca Straits Western entrance comprising of 572 islands with only 5 percent of them inhabited these stretch for 850 kilometers from north to south forming a maritime border with Myanmar Thailand and Indonesia strategically speaking they act as a lid on the Malacca pot in fact there are only three international water and airspace corridors out of the Ottoman sea the largest is the so-called sixth degree channel to the South spanning less than 100 miles between Indira Point India's southernmost land and Rondo Island north of the tripled ate province in the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra this is the main Corridor through which past the majority of slox connecting Asia with Africa Europe and the Middle East the other two passages to the north form the so-called prepress Channel which is a shallower access point into the atoman sea with an average depth of around 250 meters the first Corridor is about 30 miles across and lies between myanmar's cocoa and preparous Islands while the second one between preparers and the southern Mainland Myanmar measures around 83 miles and by the way let me open a quick parenthesis here this strategic location is also one of the reasons why the proposed craw Canal project through Thailand would only be a partial solution to the Chinese Malacca dilemma as the nicobar and atoman Islands could still create a potential blockade the two archipelagos are in many ways the symbol of new delhi's Maritime strategy pivoting between the Pacific and Indian oceans between China and the US India's first and only tri-service command is the adaman and nicobar command headquartered in Port Blair since 2001 which apparently was also under surveillance of Chinese spyballoons back in January 2022 foreign if a conflict were to happen between China and the U.S which side would India take evidence would suggest the United States India's interests is first and foremost to maintain its territorial unity and keep its political influence predominant in South Asia which starkly contraposit against China India and China have had a long history of Border disputes most notably in 1962 where India lost the aksai region to China additionally China's attempts to challenge the status quo in India's backyard such as the Gulf of Bengal the Maldives and Pakistan are seen as a direct threat to India China has also enroached on India through the infamous String of Pearls and by developing military ties with three of India's neighbors Pakistan Bangladesh and Myanmar according to the sipri data these three countries are the main recipients of Chinese military exports including missiles and submarines in contrast India does not perceive the same level of threat from the U.S there are no territorial disputes between the two countries and they are geographically far apart enough that their core interests are not in conflict in fact the US and India rely on each other in many ways the US uses India's political influence to project its own agenda in South Asia while India uses the U.S Navy and its close allies such as Japan and Australia to guarantee Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean region so if an invasion of Taiwan were to happen or the U.S China confrontation were to escalate into a conflict what would be these islands roles strategically these islands play three important roles first the ACT is an outpost to improve Maritime awareness for India and Squad allies as demonstrated by the annual U.S indo-japanese Malabar exercise it is highly probable that asean members would maintain a neutral stance in case of a U.S China conflict therefore military ships and aircraft traveling from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean would be forced through the three international corridors in the adaman sea India could easily install hydrophones and radar to control the surrounding air and sea spaces second they serve as a forward operating base for India's deterrence capabilities the Central and demand sea creates a pocket almost 4 000 meters or 12 000 feet deep where India can advantageously deploy its submarines on the one hand New Delhi can maintain its nuclear-powered submarines armed with ballistic missiles creating a realistic deterrence capability closer to the Pacific Ocean on the other hand the Andaman sea is the perfect spot to deploy area denial capabilities part of India's diesel attack submarines could operate directly from the Andaman instead of the vasaka pot on Naval Base on the Gulf of Bengal without the need to travel longer distances these submarines would rely on less refueling extending their operational time as the northern part of the Andaman sea is also much shallower less than 600 feet it makes it riskier for enemy submarines to pass through here and funnel them along India's controlled areas creating a formidable tiger denim third the Andaman and nicobar islands are the springboard for expanding India's strategic space towards the Western Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia the archipelagos connect India directly with the association of Southeast Asian Nations asean though China is by far the association's main trade partner accounting for 22 percent of trade India has been steadily increasing its presence in the region in the last year it experienced a 40 trade growth and now account for 3 percent of total trade in particular India's main asean trade partners are Singapore Indonesia and Malaysia respectively which alone accounts for almost 70 percent of its trade with the association these are also the countries that directly board the Malacca Strait and Indonesia and Malaysia also face the Andaman Sea by establishing close ties of these three countries India can create a network of countries that have a direct interest in the Malacca Strait pushing its political influence towards southeast Asia and the Pacific while counterbalancing Chinese influence despite the Strategic importance of India's Islands they can do little without the necessary Maritime capabilities India's Navy has faced budgetary issues for a long time and Border disputes with China and Pakistan have been a major drain on the country's Financial Resources in 2021 the Indian army consumed around 55 percent of the defense budget followed by the Air Force at 22 percent and the Navy at 15 percent in comparison the United States allocates 23 percent of its defense budget to the Army 28 percent of the Air Force and 30 percent to the Navy with the remaining 18 spread across other services since the late 1990s India has been making a concerted effort to transform its Navy from a brown and blue water Force driven by the vision of former Prime ministersing as well as former Admiral Arun prakash however India must re-evaluate its Maritime strategy in order to fully realize its potential in the region this means investing in the fleet and the necessary logistical infrastructure to support it but most importantly mahan's words are a reminder of how potentially influential New delhi's can be in the region foreign thank you so much for watching and hope to see you at the next one foreign foreign

Channel: Kamome

Views: 593,653

Keywords: documentary, narration, geopolitics, science, map, map animation, international relations, strategy, narrated documentary, geography, politics, China, Taiwan, US, Japan, geopolitics of asia, Taiwan politics, Taiwan strategy, infographic, narrated video, China-US, India, geopolitics of india

Id: PmMxOd5RZLM

Length: 15min 24sec (924 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 12 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Exactly why they use longer routes to enter Indian Ocean.

[u/sw1ft87ad3]

More like, China's Chicken-Neck : Malacca Strait.

For the same reason China was/is eager to fund BRI in Pakistan & Iran to secure its oil/gas dependency.