String of Pearls - India believes in American lie

'The “String of Pearls” refers to the Chinese sea lines of communication which extends for over from the coast of mainland China to the Port of Sudan.

The term was first used in 2004 in a classified internal report to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld titled “Energy Futures in Asia” which was produced by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. The report which was leaked to the public by the Washington Times, stated that China is adopting a “string of pearls” strategy of bases and diplomatic ties stretching from the Middle East to southern China.

“China is building strategic relationships along the sea lanes from the Middle East to the South China Sea in ways that suggest defensive and offensive positioning to protect China’s energy interest, but also to serve broad security objectives” [1] .

The “String of Pearls” is also described by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher J. Pehrson in his study String Of Pearls: Meeting The Challenge Of China’s Rising Power Across The Asian Littoral'

The above is quoted from UKessay.com.

This concept was first mooted by the Americans to describe the Chinese strategic plan to overcome the American plan to choke off Chinese shipping in the Indian Ocean through the Malacca Straits.  The Americans have been carefully developing all the choke points along the Indian Ocean and the control of the Straits of Malacca and could cut off Chinese supply of oil from the Middle East by controlling these waterways.

China is the largest trading nation today and is heavily dependent on the sea lanes for its oil supply and to export its goods to the Middle East and Africa. The American control of the sea lanes is a serious military and economic stranglehold on Chinese shipping and could cripple China in the event of hostility with the Americans. It is in China's interest to secure the sea lanes and develop alternatives to move its goods/oil to and from the Chinese mainland. Developing ports in the Indian Oceans, in Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar is a matter of life and death to China.

The building of these port facilities is mainly to counter the Americans and has barely any direct consideration of controlling and competing with India. Similarly, the BRI, the development of rail and roads across the Central Asia to Europe has the same strategic considerations, to provide alternatives in case the sea lanes are blocked by the Americans.

For some egoistic reasons, the Indians chose to take this American concept as a direct challenge to their dominance in the Indian Ocean and sought to erect all kinds of barriers and resistance to the Chinese activities including refusing to be a part of the BRI.  China's inclusion of a highway through the India subcontinent is the best proof of Chinese intention to bridge Asia and Africa for trade and communication and not to contain India in a strategic competition. India in all consideration is inconsequential to China's strategic thinking. The enemy of China is the Americans, not India. India and China could coexist and grow and prosper together by having more trading and economic relations. China does not harbour any ill intent to challenge or invade India. It is unnecessary and meaningless to do so for China.

Unfortunately this egoistic India, thinking too highly of itself as the next superpower, chose to interpret every Chinese action as aiming at India. And thanks to the fanning of the Indian ego by the Americans, they exploited this Indian weakness to drive a wedge between India and China, pitting India as a competitor to China and China's rise as India's fall. The string of pearl concept falls in nicely into the ambitious thinking of the Indian planners. They must oppose the string of pearls that China is developing in the Indian Ocean as a plan against India, not against the Americans. The Indians also include the BRI as against the interest of India as it promotes the interest of China.

Sino India relations thus keep going downhill with the Indians becoming suspicious of every China initiative north and south of India. India thus chose to continue to remain a slum country, refuse to join the BRI and prosper together with the rest of Asia by becoming part of this international trade road initiative. If Indian thinkers were more forward thinking than being consumed by their wild ambition of being better than China, instead of both developing together but seeing China's development as a threat to this backward country, India today could rebuild its infrastructure to mirror what is happening in China with Chinese assistance and cooperation to better the lives of Indians and at the same time push India faster into the ranks of developed nations.

But small minds would not see goodness in all the developments around them and chose to bury its heads in the sand, thriving in a mentality of enmity against cooperation with both parties moving ahead together.

At the rate India is going, on its own, with the Americans only able to sell it more weapons, its economic and infrastructure development would only be on a standstill and its big power dream only a fleeting dream. The only country that is very happy with this development is the USA, with India as one of its pawn and wasting precious little resources buying useless American weapons at the expense of its economic development and the well being and prosperity of its people.

India can continue to live in its imaginary fear of China that historically had not invaded any Indian territory and neither has any ambition to want to seize any Indian land. India can also continue to believe in its own lie that the 1962 border war was initiated by China to seize disputed territory despite China defeating India and withdrew to the original LOC. If China wanted to take advantage of the war, China could simply sat on the new land that it occupied after the war. This act of generosity did not sink into the heads of the egoistic Indians till today.  The pride of the Indians would not allow them to admit their guilt, and chose to believe in their make belief, their own lie, that China was the invader and not India. Why would China want to invade a slum country and inherit all its problems?

It is so pathetic that India, despite having so many brilliant minds, could not face reality squarely and chose to continue to live in their own lies and myth of China.  The string of pearl and the BRI are parts of China's strategy to break free from the American fence built to contain China, nothing to do with India. India should not think too highly of itself, its self importance that these are to contain India.