India Continued Activity in the South China Sea
India Continued Activity in the South China Sea | southasiantribune.com
Indian state-owned energy company ONGC Videsh Ltd. announced July 19 that it would continue participating in a joint oil and natural gas exploration project with
Vietnam in Block 128, one of several potentially exploitable oil blocks in the South China Sea. The company withdrew from the project in May — purportedly over unfavourable exploration conditions — but it reconsidered its position after Hanoi reportedly pledged to give ONGC Videsh additional data and other incentives.
Complicating the project was China, which claims sole domain over the South China Sea and has long opposed joint exploration in its waters unless it includes China. Many observers considered ONGC Videsh’s initial withdrawal to be a bow to China’s demands, despite New Delhi’s claims to the contrary. But with the decision to renew the contract, India has shown its willingness to align with Vietnam amid tensions in the South China Sea, even at the risk of hurting its relations with China. Still, a number of questions remain over the commercial viability of the venture and over the implications of Beijing’s response.
To counter Vietnam’s offer to India and to facilitate its claim to the South China Sea,
Chinese state-owned energy firm China National Offshore Oil Corp. in late June opened nine offshore oil blocks to joint operation with foreign companies. The move marked the first auction in the area by the Chinese firm in two decades. Notably, the oil blocks Beijing opened are close to the western fringe of China’s nine-dash line — a loose boundary line demarcating China’s maritime claims — near the Vietnamese coast, and most blocks appear to overlap with those of Vietnam.
The area of Blocks Yiqingxi 18 and Danwan 22 directly overlap with Block 128, where the Vietnam-India joint venture is located.
India told stupid chinese who is the Boss.... and chinese don't even dare to come close to Indian Rigs
