China’s Orwellian surveillance ambitions know no bounds. Its surveillance in India’s maritime backyard underscores its expansive and intrusive goals. India has to brace up to the real possibility of China opening a maritime front against it. The Chinese manoeuvring in the Indian Ocean aims to challenge America’s sway and chip away at India’s natural-geographic advantage. (President) Xi has sought to carve out an important role for China in the Indian Ocean through his Maritime Silk Road initiative.
Brahma Chellaney, leading geostrategist and China expert