China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA)

Why in News?

• The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), has recently held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum in which 19 countries took part but not India.

Highlights

• China proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region.
• China expressed its willingness to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need.
• China is contending for influence in the strategic Indian Ocean region with substantial investments in ports and infrastructure in several countries.
• China has made substantial investments in ports and infrastructure investments in several countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• China has acquired Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on a 99-year lease besides building the port at Pakistan’s Gwadar in the Arabian Sea opposite India’s western coast and infrastructure investments in the Maldives
• China has often been accused of engaging in “debt diplomacy” in these countries under its Belt and Road Initiative allegedly in the name of infrastructure development.
• Since 2008, China has regularly deployed a contingent of naval warships in the Gulf of Aden and established its first foreign military base in Djibouti in 2017.
• At the same time India’s absence is seen as an attempt to challenge India’s traditional presence in the region amid apprehensions of politicization of the Indian Ocean region. Moreover, the Chinese Foreign Ministry refused to disclose who the participants were from other countries.
• India has been a traditional partner and supporter of Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries.