India's maritime gateway to the Pacific

The South China Sea (SCS) is a regional conflict in the Asia-Pacific region and an “arena of escalating contention.” The article was an op-ed piece in ‘The Hindu’ newspaper (2014). Territorial sovereignty, contention on energy, significance of the geographic location, threat to maritime security and overlapping maritime claims are at the core of the SCS dispute. Though military conflict over freedom of navigation and access to maritime resources is neither necessary nor inevitable, it is natural for India to address China’s “threat perception” and to promote its national interest