Source: HT
Context: India and the Philippines conducted their first-ever bilateral joint naval drill in the South China Sea, marking a significant step in maritime cooperation amid rising tensions in the region.
About India-Philippines Naval Exercise:
- Purpose: To enhance maritime cooperation and interoperability between the two navies, and to assert freedom of navigation in contested waters.
- Location: Conducted within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea over two days.
- Indian Naval Assets:
- INS Delhi (guided missile destroyer)
- INS Shakti (fleet tanker)
- INS Kiltan (anti-submarine warfare corvette)
- Significance:
- A symbolic counter to China’s assertive nine-dash line claim.
- Reinforces India’s Act East Policy and regional partnerships under the “Necklace of Diamonds” strategy.
- Boosts defence diplomacy and freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs).
About South China Sea:
- What it is?
- A marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea is one of the world’s busiest and most contested maritime regions.
- Located in: South of mainland China; stretches from the Taiwan Strait in the northeast to the Strait of Malacca in the southwest.
- Neighbouring Nations:
-
- China, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia.
- Subject of overlapping EEZ claims, especially due to China’s controversial “Nine-Dash Line”.
- Physical Features:
-
- Area: ~3.68 million sq. km
- Depth: Max depth of 5,016 m at the China Sea Basin
- Prominent Islands/Shoals: Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, Macclesfield Bank, Scarborough Shoal
- Major Rivers Draining into the Sea:
- Pearl River (China)
- Red River (Vietnam)
- Mekong River (Vietnam)
