Thread by @Iamthestory_

India vs China - Necklace of Diamonds Strategy of India
to Counter China's Ring of Pearls Strategy.

#Threads

#India #China

1. The “Necklace of Diamonds” strategy is a phrase first used by India’s former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh in August 2011. He used the term to refer to India’s efforts to protect its interests, in response to China’s String of Pearls Strategy.
(China String of Pearls)

2. The key countries, include Iran, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Seychelles. With every depicted state India has joint projects, agreements or just diplomatically engages with them. However, a bigger portion of attention is focused on infrastructure – similar to China.

3. The main projects are:
a) Changi Naval Base in Singapore. With agreement with Singapore in 2018 India secured the Indian Navy presence at the base. This allows the naval vessels to avail of logistical support such as refueling and replenishing supplies.

4 b) Sabang Port in Indonesia. In 2018 India got the military access to the port which is located right at the entrance of Malacca Strait. However, progress on building the port has been slow and talks have been on for some years now, so right now there are no results.

5 c) Duqm Port in Oman. This port is located between Pakistan and Djibouti, where two important strategic Chinese facilities are situated. It connects Asia to Africa and Europe.

6 d) Despite the fact that India gained access to the port, Oman currently is one of the main Chinese investment destinations, so it is very hard for New Delhi to compete with Beijing.

7 e) Chabahar Port in Iran. India has served as the primary investor in Chabahar port, as New Delhi sees the port as a way to access Afghan and Central Asian markets without relying on Pakistan’s land routes.

8 f) At the same time, China has been growing increasingly influential in Iran, seeking to gain access to critical natural resources and shipping routes.

9. China is aggressively increasing its investments in the Middle East and African countries. To counter this India will have to push its economic might across the Chinese OBOR (One Belt One Road) Geography and that is a tough task right now given the scale of the Chinese project

10. Best way forward for India is to ink bilateral trade deals and strategically push its interests in the Middle East and Africa encashing on its buoyant economy and fastest-growing market across the globe in multiple biz segments.