Look at it this way, China is, geographically speaking, completely bottled up. In the North is Russia, in the East are the Central Asian states like Kazakhstan, Kirghistan, Tajikistan etc which continue to be under strong Russian influence or are beginning to sway to the tunes of radical Islamists. In the East are Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, etc plus an overbearing US Navy which continues to challenge China in its very back yard. And then there is India in the South. here is however, this very narrow stretch of land through Gilgit/Baltistan which Pakistan illegally occupies and through which China hopes to gain overland access to the Indian ocean and Afghanistan/Central Asia through their only ally, Pakistan. Enter Gwadar the problem child of Baluchistan. Now, all that is OK except for a few minor issues. The karakoram Highway passes through an area which is extremely prone to land slides, passes through an area where people, the Baltis are not too happy with Pakistan,(periodic uprisings are ruthlessly quelled), the region to the north is prone to radical Islamic influence and on the south are the Indians holding the dominating heights of Siachen. This is the narrow Chicken Neck of China's Indian Ocean Strategy at the end of which lies Gwadar. Is anyone surprised then why India does not wish to relent on the Siachen Glacier issue? As long as the US makes its presence felt in the China Seas (East and South) and as long as Japan and Philippines host major US bases and as long as Taiwan is not fully integrated with the mainland, China will never have enough resources to spare to seriously threaten Indian interests in the Indian ocean. By the time these milestones are achieved, if they ever are, it will be too late to contain India. Then there will be the Russians whose navy has been witnessing a resurgence of sorts. Is it any surprise that the Chinese are in no hurry to establish a naval base at Gwadar?
I honestly feel that whoever coined the term, "String of Pearls", (I believe, it was an American), did India a great service. He woke us up from the deep slumber only we are capable of.
![MuZammiL Dr. s[1]n](/data/avatars/m/32/32258.jpg?1370382459){kind=avatar}
halka haath rakha kar in hindu bachon pe ... 
anyway , that was really a tight reply ... 
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