Gunboat diplomacy

RT -

India will deploy warships to the South China Sea if the country’s regional interests are compromised, the Indian Navy commander said.

As China bolsters its military, the region has witnessed rising tensions over unresolved territorial disputes.

India is not directly involved in any of the disputes, but its national interests are tied to the turbulent region, Admiral D K Joshi said on Monday, a day ahead of India’s Navy Day.

Delhi may deploy its forces to the region if the situation deteriorates.

“Are we preparing for it? Are we having exercises of that nature?

The short answer is 'Yes,'” Joshi said. India’s prime concerns in the dispute are freedom of navigation for all countries, and the extraction of oil by a subsidiary of the Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONSC) off the Vietnamese coast, he explained.

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