New Delhi: China on Saturday warned countries which are “outside” the region not to “meddle” in the South China Sea issue, saying “muscle flexing” will not be good for regional security.
“Countries who are from outside or have nothing to do with the region should not meddle into these issues. This will make it worse,” Le Yuchneg, Chinese Am-bassador to India said in an apparent message to the United States and India.
He was speaking at an event on ‘The Asia Pacific Country: India and Big Power Engagement’. His stand was countered by BJP leader Ram Madhav who batted for freedom of navigation saying as the Indian Ocean does not belong to India and is shared by other countries of the world, similar is the case with South China Sea.
“The way China has propelled the global economy in this century, it should also propel peace in the region,” he said. The BJP leader said instead of Asia-Pacific, the region should be addressed as Indo-Pacific since its a broader term.
Pitching for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, India has favoured peaceful resolution of the dispute and has economic interests in hydro-carbon rich sea. Le reiterated Chinese claim over the Spratly, an archipelago which is a focal point of the dispute in the hydrocarbon rich sea.
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