China’s envy, India’s pride: Russia is back in Indian Ocean after decades, docks warships in Bangladesh, Myanmar

After several decades, Russia has expanded its presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by docking its warships in Bangladesh and conducting a maiden joint exercise with Myanmar, a military-run Southeast Asian nation.

The move is viewed positively by India, especially in light of China’s increasing military presence in the region, including regular visits by spy ships in Colombo.

Warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet are presently docked at the Chittagong port, marking a return after a gap of five decades. Despite being a significant arms supplier to Myanmar, joint exercises with Russia have been infrequent.

The exercise follows what Moscow describes as “the first Russian-Myanmar naval exercise in modern history” held from Nov. 7-9 in the Andaman Sea on the northeastern fringe of the Indian Ocean, a milestone for Russia’s naval presence in a sea that the United States counts as one of its global security interests.

Following the development, the Chinese and Pakistani navies also held weeklong drills in the Arabian Sea days after the Russian Pacific Fleet and Myanmar practised repelling attacks in their first maritime exercise. The exercise will end on Nov. 17.

At a naval base in Karachi on Saturday, the Chinese and Pakistani navies kicked off the exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea in drills that include anti-submarine operations.

India has consistently expressed its desire for Russia to enhance its presence in the IOR, aiming to foster regional inclusivity and counterbalance China’s strategic ambitions, which include frequent visits by spy ships in Colombo.

As part of its Act Far East policy, India has increased its presence in the Russian Far East and revitalized the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime connectivity initiative under the Eastern Maritime Corridor. Additionally, the two nations are exploring the creation of a trans-shipment hub in the Bay of Bengal.

Amid the push for deeper security ties between China and Pakistan, and Russia and Myanmar, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held defence talks in New Delhi on Nov. 10 with their Indian counterparts.

In a joint statement released after the recently concluded “2+2 Dialogue”, the U.S. and Indian governments expressed deep concern over the war in Ukraine but made no explicit mention of Russia. They also pledged their commitment to safeguarding a free and open Indo-Pacific.

New Delhi has carefully preserved its longstanding relations with Russia, including defence cooperation, even as its ties with Washington have grown steadily stronger.

China was also not mentioned in the joint statement, even though an Indian government official said ahead of the talks that China would be one of the “key focus points”.

The careful navigation of those talks comes ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco this week, where Washington is expected to seek a re-establishment of military-to-military ties with Beijing.

Russia is a major supporter and arms supplier of Myanmar’s military government, which was installed after the army seized power and ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Russia defends Myanmar’s military government in international forums, and the ruling generals return the favour by generally supporting Moscow’s foreign policy agenda.

Myanmar has been treated as a pariah state by many Western nations since the military takeover and the violent suppression of protests against it, which has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to an armed resistance movement in many parts of the country.

With inputs from agencies.