China’s interference in the Indian Ocean is showing no signs of stopping.
Despite strong objections from India and America, China is busy expanding its geopolitical ambitions in South Asia.
As a new trick, China has now started taking the guise of Lord Buddha. Ta
In the current developments, adopting Buddhist soft diplomacy, China has pushed Sri Lanka towards Myanmar. This effort has come in order to take forward the Belt and Road Initiative recently proposed by China.
China has offered an economic corridor in the Indian Ocean to give Sri Lanka access to its energy pipeline facility built in Myanmar.
This offer from China has come when on December 19 last year, the Sri Lankan government had banned Chinese ships carrying out research in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for one year.
On October 25 last year, when the Chinese spy ship Xi Yang 6 reached Sri Lankan waters, India and the US had objected to it and expressed concern about regional peace and instability in the Indian Ocean.
After this, Sri Lanka had announced a ban on the research mission of the Chinese ship. Despite security concerns raised by New Delhi, Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) has insisted that Chinese vessels should be allowed to conduct joint research in the waters.
This change in Sri Lanka’s stance has come under the cover of China’s Buddhist policy. The eighth South China Sea Buddhism Roundtable was held in Sri Lanka in December. Its main theme was “Walking together in harmony and gathering knowledge of the Silk Road”.
More than 400 Buddhist monks, scholars, government officials and representatives from 25 countries participated on the stage of this conference. The guests of honor also included the Rajapaksa brothers (former President and Prime Minister) of Sri Lanka.
The conference sought to unite Han Chinese, Chinese Tibetans and Theravada Buddhism and focused on promoting peace, mutual learning and people-to-people contact and harmony in the South China Sea region. Yin Shun, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, was at the center of the conference. He is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). It is clear that through this Round Table Conference, China has tried to establish regional unity under the guise of Buddhism.
In fact, China wants to connect Myanmar and Sri Lanka through the ‘China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC)’ so that it can establish regional dominance in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean. For this, China is continuously putting pressure on Sri Lanka. In this context, using the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe has prioritized East Asia and ASEAN trade as a solution to reinvigorate the economy. China is considering Wickremesinghe’s initiative as a milestone in its strategic objectives. China has long been looking forward to connecting Kyaukphyu Port and Hambanthota Port.
China’s bid to link Sri Lanka and Myanmar also aims to blunt the Indian-backed Sittwe port, which poses a strategic threat to the Chinese-funded Kyaukphyu port. The military junta government of Myanmar has given complete freedom to China to develop this port. Instead, China is defending the military dictatorial government of Myanmar on every forum of the world.
Kyaukphyu port in Myanmar is among the many ports in the region that are operated by China. These include Reem Naval Base in Cambodia, Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan, besides a naval station in Djibouti.
Overall, China is trying to create a new front against India by playing the Buddhist card in the Eastern Indian Ocean.