As India has pivoted away from viewing Pakistan as its primary enemy to pivot to face off against China, India has had policies starting from "Look East" moving on to "Act East." If India wants to "Fight East" to keep Chinese naval power away from the Indian Ocean, holding the line in the South China Sea would benefit from defense ties with Taiwan.
India and Taiwan are quietly strengthening their relationship:
In recent years, largely outside the headlines, India and Taiwan have quietly developed a robust economic relationship coupled with an expanding mélange of political interactions.
This is the logical result of India's increased interest in areas to the east of India.
From India's "Look East" policy to the new "Act East" policy, how long will it be before India has a "Fight East" policy? ...
India is worried about China looming over them on land to the north; and is worried that China's navy is making inroads to challenge India's naval power in the Indian Ocean, where China's trade routes cross to the Middle East and Africa.
An Indian military holding the line at sea in the South China Sea will help India cope with Chinese pressure on India's north and northeast:
China surely has the edge on land. But I think there are limits to how decisive any land action can be given the terrain.
Amazingly, India still hasn't corrected their dangerous deficiency in air power.
So to compete with an escalation on land by China in the north, India would have to broaden the conflict to a sea war to cut off China's line of supply across the Indian Ocean [Link added as an UPDATE] and perhaps attack China's base at Djibouti. China's logistics to operate in the Indian Ocean would be severely tested if China sent their fleet there.
America is already building bilateral ties with regional powers eager to hold off China's subliminal war to seize control of the South China Sea. India can add their power to an existing loose coalition with similar goals.
Australia, for example, is going to built the ability to Fight North with nuclear attack submarines:
Nuclear subs indicate more than continental defense. They allow Australia to go on the offense with submarines, F-35s, and amphibious forces in support of the American Marines rotated through northern Australia and long-range American air power flying out of Australian bases.
Such a capacity will make it harder for China to hold the South China Sea. And will encourage countries such as Singapore and Vietnam to resist the Chinese.
Nuclear submarines give Australia the power to assist distant India or Japan--and so earn reciprocal help.
India is already building a screen at its Andaman and Nicobar island chain. But Chinese nuclear subs have other paths to reach Indian home waters. Holding the line east of the Malacca Strait line will reduce China's ability to exploit their capability to rain down anti-ship ballistic missiles on Indian ports and home waters.
As the initial article says, "If the Modi government does seek to elevate ties further, U.S.-based Taiwan expert Michael Mazza notes that it has a range of available options, from combined military exercises to Track 1.5 defense dialogues, coast guard training, expanded parliamentary interactions, and clean energy cooperation initiatives."
Elevated ties with Taiwan will help India fight east to block Chinese lines of supply to Africa and beyond. It will help India battle China at sea where India has a better chance of overcoming losses on their contested border with China.
NOTE: My latest war coverage is here. Weekend data dump also has Ukraine-related entries.
