越南护卫舰 印度军舰离奇起航 "善意造访"越南

印度军舰离奇起航 "善意造访"越南  

An Indian warship is to take part in exercises with the Vietnamese navy this week in the tense waters of the South China Sea
where maritime disputes beeen China and its neighbors have intensified.
The guided-missile stealth frigate INS Shivalik also made a port visit at Haiphong in northern Vietnam as part of a three-day 'goodwill trip' to the Southeast Asian country
the Indian navy said Tuesday.
Indian navy spokesman D.K. Sharma said the visit
as well as maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean last month by India
the U.S. and Japan
is a 'fine demonstration of the operational reach' of India's armed forces.
印度海军发言人D.K. Sharma表示，此次造访海防市以及印度、美国和日本上个月在太平洋进行的军演，很好地展现了印度军队的行动能力。
Worried about an increasingly assertive and stronger China
New Delhi has sought greater cooperation with Beijing's rivals and has been bolstering its navy
which recently took delivery of its second aircraft carrier.
But India
wary of provoking instability in the region and along its own disputed border with China
has generally moved cautiously and tried to avoid any appearance of working with the U.S. or others to contain China's rise.
In May
India expressed concern over a dispute beeen China and Vietnam over China's deployment of an oil rig in a disputed area
prompting a curt response from Beijing that Indians 'may not worry too much about the current situation in the South China Sea
' according to the Press Trust of India.
Rahul Roy-Chaudhury
an expert in maritime affairs at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies
said the Indian navy's Vietnam visit is part of an effort to deepen India's engagement in East Asia.
'In terms of China's assertive actions
there's certainly a feeling in India that it should build on some of its traditional relationships in the region
' Mr. Roy-Chaudhury said.
Some Indian experts and officials have argued India should build close ties with Vietnam like those China has with India's neighbor and rival
Pakistan. But successive Indian governments have taken a more measured approach.
India and China
which fought a brief 1962 war over their Himalayan border
have in recent years grown increasingly suspicious of the others' activities in waters they consider their own strategic backyards.
China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean and infrastructure investments in nations surrounding India has spooked some in New Delhi's security establishment.
India has sparred with China over activities in the South China Sea
including gas and oil exploration off the coast of Vietnam. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea
clashing with other nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines that have peting claims over the mineral-rich region.
China in 2011 warned India's state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. against carrying out exploration activities there. But the Indian pany has continued to operate in the region.
That year
Indian officials said
an Indian naval vessel sailing toward a port in Vietnam was contacted on an open radio channel by a caller who identified himself as a Chinese official and said the Indian ship was in Chinese waters.