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In the mid-1990s, India formulated an "eastward policy" and put forward the idea of "looking eastward" in order to increase its strength in Southeast Asian countries, share the benefits of East Asian economic success, expand its geopolitical influence and grasp the initiative in foreign relations. After entering the new century, with the expansion of its influence in Southeast Asia, India put forward the "eastward policy", that is, to join the eastern part of Asia and accelerate the integration process with Southeast Asia. At the end of 2005, Indian strategists put forward the slogan "India is everywhere", and India's overall strategic intention of striving to become a world power is self-evident. "Eastward policy" is an important embodiment of its overall strategic goal.
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India wants to build a railway to Hanoi, implement the eastward policy and wrestle with China.
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International herald tribune
Our reporter Tang Lu.
A railway indicates not only the trade competition between Dragon and India in Southeast Asia, but also the game ambition of two developing countries seeking regional influence.
On September 4th, Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee announced to the economic ministers of 10 ASEAN countries in New Delhi that "India"
The railway to Hanoi will be laid. " Since then, the competition between India and China in Southeast Asia has transcended the issues of trade, investment and tariffs, and spread to the areas along the railway in Southeast Asia's transnational borders.
China took the lead in the Battle of the Dragon Elephant.
"India will compete with China on the Hanoi Railway". When this headline of Indian newspaper came into view, the author suddenly remembered a famous saying of Vajpayee: "There will be a healthy competitive relationship between India and China (in Southeast Asia)". In fact, after Vajpayee's visit to China, people in the circle have been paying attention to whether India and China, which have their own plans, will have the will to jointly develop the Greater Mekong River Basin: will the two countries merge their plans or not participate in each other's plans? India's latest measures clearly show that India is determined to take its own path in the development of the Mekong River.
No wonder when India decided to establish Mekong-Ganges cooperation organization with its five eastern neighbors-Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2000, it gave priority to the development of tourism, culture and education, with the intention of excluding China, and at the same time emphasized the connection between Indian traditional culture and Southeast Asian countries.
However, at present, China is far ahead of India in cooperation with Southeast Asia. From 65438 to 0995, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir put forward the concept of "Trans-Asian Railway". After several years of research and demonstration, in 200 1 year, ASEAN countries determined the route of the Trans-Asian Railway from Kunming to Singapore, passing through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Fifth Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN-Mekong River Basin Development Cooperation held in Kunming in August this year focused on accelerating the construction of the Trans-Asian Railway, and the project will enter the substantive operation stage next year. Once the Trans-Asian Railway is completed, it will connect the tourism and transportation of the whole ASEAN countries. Experts believe that this is one of the substantive steps of the "China-ASEAN Free Trade Area" proposed by China this year. This "golden corridor" will be connected with the Asia-Europe railway network, which will effectively promote the economic and trade development between China and ASEAN countries.
India feels urgent.
At present, the bilateral trade volume between India and ASEAN has exceeded $654.38+00 billion, and India's goal is to make this figure rise to $654.38+05 billion in the next two years and reach $30 billion in 2007. In what way can we achieve our goals effectively? India decided to strengthen the construction of trade channels with Southeast Asia.
Two years ago, in order to gain an obvious advantage in the battle between China and India for Myanmar, India helped Myanmar build the 100-mile-long India-Myanmar Friendship Highway along the India-Myanmar border, and then the high-grade highway project between India, Myanmar and Thailand has also started. Seeing that China is actively promoting the construction of the Trans-Asian Railway, and thinking that China may use this new railway planned to start next year to connect with Southeast Asia, the Indian people's sense of urgency has come up again.
In fact, Cambodia begged India to help build this railway as early as 2002. When Vajpayee attended the first India-ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodian Prime Minister Yun Sheng expressed the hope that India would consider helping Cambodia to build a railway network, and eventually make it directly connected with the New Kunming Railway and become a part of it. India has no clear answer to this. Finally, regarding railway construction, only Cambodian Foreign Minister Nam Hong Hor mentioned in his speech entitled "ASEAN-India Summit: Challenges and Prospects" that "ASEAN should encourage India to help build transportation and infrastructure networks within the scope of the new Kunming Railway".
However, at the Foreign Ministers' Meeting of Mekong-Ganges Cooperation Organization on June 20th this year, when Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung called on India to build a railway from New Delhi to Hanoi, so as to close the relationship between Mekong-Ganges Cooperation Organization member countries, Indian Foreign Minister Sinha gave a positive response very readily. He said that India will conduct a feasibility study on the plan as soon as possible and put it into practice as soon as possible. On September 4th, Vajpayee told the economic ministers of 65,438+00 ASEAN countries attending the meeting in New Delhi: "The highway project connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand has been started. According to the Mekong-Ganges cooperation plan, we are focusing on the railway connection between New Delhi and Hanoi. " It is reported that this route will start from New Delhi, pass through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, and the destination is Hanoi.
The eastward policy is generous.
A well-informed source in the Indian Foreign Ministry said that India's ambitious plan is mainly based on the following realities: First, it will greatly increase trade between India and ASEAN. Secondly, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar are all new members of ASEAN, and they have been playing an important role in promoting the close relationship between India and ASEAN, among which Myanmar has also played an important strategic gateway role in India's March into Southeast Asia.
At present, there is no railway connection between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In Southeast Asia, there is only one railway connecting Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, China and Viet Nam. The railway stopped in Myanmar, about several hundred kilometers from the border between Bangladesh and India. India's railway connection plan will aim at changing isolated areas in Southeast Asia. This connection will open up a new trade corridor for New Delhi beyond the Mekong River and enable it to connect with the wider Trans-Asian Railway network. This will greatly change the inferior position of India and China in the Mekong River competition.
In the past, India has been accused by Southeast Asian countries of "talking more and doing less" in its relations with ASEAN. At last year's India-ASEAN summit, India promised to cut taxes on four ASEAN member countries: Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which was once regarded as the first attempt for India to start to reverse its image. It is true that according to a senior official of Indian railway authorities, India's latest plan to build a railway to Hanoi is "a ten-year project", but in any case, it is by far the largest project of India to ASEAN countries.
Statement: International Herald Tribune authorized Sina. Com exclusive report. Please do not reprint without permission.
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Ma Jiali: The joint military exercise at sea shows the Indian strategy of moving eastward.
At the end of 2005, Indian strategists put forward the slogan "India is everywhere", and India's overall strategic intention of striving to become a world power is self-evident. "Eastward policy" is an important embodiment of its overall strategic goal.
Author: Ma Jiali
On April 7, the task force of the Indian Eastern Fleet entered the waters of Okinawa, Japan, and prepared to hold an unprecedented "maritime security cooperation training" with the US Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. This is the first time that the Indian naval fleet has held joint operations with two other big countries in the Pacific Ocean.
The eastward journey of the Indian Navy Task Force lasted nearly two months, covering Singapore, Japan, Qingdao, China, Russia, the Philippines and Viet Nam. The long track shows that India's eastward strategy is being actively implemented.
In the mid-1990s, India formulated an "eastward policy" and put forward the idea of "looking eastward" in order to increase its strength in Southeast Asian countries, share the benefits of East Asian economic success, expand its geopolitical influence and grasp the initiative in foreign relations. After entering the new century, with the expansion of its influence in Southeast Asia, India put forward the "eastward policy", that is, to join the eastern part of Asia and accelerate the integration process with Southeast Asia. At the end of 2005, Indian strategists put forward the slogan "India is everywhere", and India's overall strategic intention of striving to become a world power is self-evident. "Eastward policy" is an important embodiment of its overall strategic goal.
In July of 200 1 year, India established the Eastern Naval Command, which laid a military foundation for the eastward strategy. As we all know, the main task of the Indian navy is to maintain India's maritime security. There are three main tasks: first, building maritime capabilities, cooperating with countries that share maritime interests with India, and establishing effective deterrence against existing and potential hostile forces; Second, create a maritime cooperation environment in the region and provide necessary support and help; The third is to establish a mechanism to deal with terrorist activities at sea, ports and bays. From June, 5438 to February, 2005, the commander of the Indian Navy clearly put forward "two guarantees", that is, "ensuring that the Indian Ocean is India's ocean and entering the Pacific Ocean eastward", in an attempt to promote the strategic and security extension from the North Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. In order to achieve this goal, India's military expenditure has been tilted towards the navy year by year, and the naval equipment has been continuously expanded. According to the current plan, in the next 10 year, the Indian navy will add 63 warships, including two aircraft carrier battle groups, and at the same time build a maritime missile launching platform, build a missile defense system of trinity of land, sea and air, and connect warships and submarines through satellites to form a powerful maritime central warfare network, so as to gain the initiative in future maritime wars.
Combined with India's eastward strategy, it is not difficult to see that the direct significance of the Indian navy's entry into the Pacific Ocean lies in proving its ocean-going action capability. It can be clearly seen from the map that even if we set sail from the Bay of Bengal in eastern India, the Indian Navy's task force will cross the Straits of Malacca, cross the South China Sea, go straight to the Sea of Japan, and finally reach Vladivostok, the Russian Far East port. The whole voyage is quite long. In addition, from a strategic point of view, India's far-reaching intention is to strengthen relations with major East Asian countries and even the United States, enhance mutual understanding and trust, show its status as an Asian power, and strive for the right to speak in Asian affairs. However, from the differences in scale, level and purpose between India and other countries concerned, we can see that India still has the intention of using contradictions and balancing each other.
□ Ma Jiali (Researcher, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations)
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The influence on China is to expand Indian influence in Southeast Asia and contain China.
I don't know the impact on Yunnan, but it will be closer, such as Stilwell Road.