INDIA siding with the Philippines its sea dispute with China is irrelevant to the issues within the BRICS economic bloc, according to India’s top envoy in Manila

“THE BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has its own agenda and not every issue gets linked to other issues,” Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu S. Kumaran told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a news briefing on Sept. 1.

He was asked if its stance on the dispute could affect the dynamics within the bloc.

“We have a very clear position on this matter (South China Sea) expressed in our joint statement on the South China Sea,” he added.

India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and the most populous country in the world, has expressed support for a 2016 arbitral ruling favoring the Philippines that voided China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea.

At the briefing, Mr. Kumaran said India seeks to pursue naval and maritime defense cooperation with the Philippines.

He said Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Artemio M. Abu visited New Delhi on Aug. 24 to sign a maritime cooperation deal with his Indian counterpart, India Coast Guard Commandant Rakesh Pal.

“It’s very logical that large countries, fellow democracies in the Indo-Pacific such as India and the Philippines, will build a defense partnership,” he added.

BRICS recently invited six countries to join its fold — Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the world’s biggest oil producers, as well as Egypt, Argentina and Ethiopia.

China published a new 10-dash line map on Aug. 28 that covers regions beyond its borders and claims most of the South China Sea.

The map also shows as being part of China the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, where Beijing fought a border war in 1962, and the Aksai Chin plateau, which links Tibet to western China.

In a statement on Aug. 31, the Indian Foreign Ministry said it had lodged a protest, saying the claims have no basis. “Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question,” it said.

The Philippines has also filed a protest regarding the new map, which was published by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel R. Espiritu told a palace briefing last week.

Relations between India and China have been complicated by a border clash in 2020 that led to the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers.

“Without attributing to any one motivation, we obviously would like the region to have an evolution that is rules-based, that does not sidestep the interests of smaller states,” Mr. Kumaran said. “Coercion and shall we say resort to aggressive maneuvers are avoided because we all have a common stake in this region.”

The envoy said India is not ruling out joint patrols with the Philippines. He said he met with Defense Secretary Gilbert C. Teodoro, Jr. two weeks ago to discuss “the broad agenda of defense cooperation and security partnership.”

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. last week vowed to boost the country’s military presence in the waterway amid rising tensions with China.

During his confirmation hearing on Aug. 30, he told senators the name of the game in the South China Sea is “effective presence.” “Whoever has many ships gets the advantage,” he said, noting that there were more than 400 foreign vessels in the South China Sea at any given time.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened after the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons to block Manila’s attempt to deliver food and other supplies to a grounded ship at Second Thomas Shoal on Aug. 5.

The shoal is about 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.

Since 2014, China has substantially expanded its ability to monitor and project power throughout the South China Sea by building dual civilian-military bases at its outposts in the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

In the 2016 ruling, a five-member United Nations-based tribunal ruled China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by building artificial islands and failing to prevent its citizens from fishing in the zone.

China has largely ignored the ruling, calling it void. Aside from the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waterway.

“I express my solidarity with the sentiment in the Philippines with regard to such efforts and what I would call cartographic expansionism,” Mr. Kumaran said.