“India will not become a pawn for Japan to contain China, as it wants to become a power on par with China and Japan and benefit from both sides. India will get closer to Japan but will not enter into a brotherhood relationship,” it said.
The editorial, which was apparently written before India and Japan issued joint statement yesterday, said that “both sides hinted they would include the South China Sea Arbitration in their joint statement”.
India and Japan yesterday sought a peaceful solution to the territorial disputes in the strategic South China Sea, saying parties involved in the matter must not resort to “threat or use of force”, in remarks that could anger China which is opposed to any outside interference.
There is no official reaction by China yet about the outcome of Modi’s visit, but ahead of his visit Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told media that New Delhi and Tokyo should respect the legitimate concerns of their neighbours.
A Chinese state media report on Wednesday warned India that it may suffer “great losses” in bilateral trade if it joins Japan in asking China to abide by an international tribunal’s ruling quashing Beijing’s claims over the SCS.
China has been making aggressive advances in the strategic region – parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei – by rapidly building artificial islets that experts fear could be potentially used as military posts.
Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy: E&T Magazine – The IET
