India on Tuesday reiterated its support for a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal that rejected China’s expansive territorial claims over the South China Sea and called for support for unimpeded freedom of navigation and trade in a region where New Delhi has developed close ties with several key players.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal clarified India’s position at a regular press conference when asked about a joint statement issued by the Philippines, the United States and 12 other countries on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark international court ruling that said China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis.
The Philippines won a 2016 case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which ruled that China’s sovereignty claim in the South China Sea had no basis under international law. However, China has consistently rejected the ruling, saying in a statement on Sunday that the court’s decision “is nothing but a worthless piece of paper.”
Jaiswal said: “We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and we reaffirm that the ruling issued by the arbitration court 10 years ago is an important milestone and a basis for resolving disputes between the two parties peacefully.”
Jaiswal said India’s position on the South China Sea issue is well known. “We emphasized the importance of freedom of navigation, overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, and unhindered trade in accordance with international law, as stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry’s position is unlikely to go down well with Beijing, which was already angered by the joint statement issued by 14 countries over the weekend.
In recent years, India has built close security and strategic cooperation with countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam that are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Both the Philippines and Vietnam have concluded deals with India to acquire the BrahMos cruise missile. The Indian Navy has also deployed its warships in the South China Sea to conduct port visits and conduct joint exercises and coordinated patrols with the navies of the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.
The joint statement, issued by the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, the Philippines, Romania and Slovenia on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the arbitration court decision between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, said that these countries are committed to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful, stable and rules-based.
“We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We reaffirm that the ruling issued by the Court of Arbitration ten years ago is a milestone, final, legally binding and final between China and the Philippines with regard to the maritime entitlements and claims addressed by the Court of Arbitration,” the joint statement said.
The countries reiterated the arbitration court’s ruling that “there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea,” including those based on “historic rights.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded with its own statement claiming that the arbitration violated basic principles of international law and contravened the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “The so-called ‘award’ is nothing but a worthless and illegal piece of paper, null and void, and has no binding force. China does not accept or recognize the ‘award’, and opposes or accepts any claim or action based on it,” the statement said.
