• About us
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
TFI Official Merchandise
TFI हिन्दी
TFI Global
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Tfipost.com
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

    Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

    enemy properties

    Home Ministry to sell enemy properties worth Rs 1 trillion

    Kerala Christians BJP

    Kerala Christians’ puts one condition to vote for BJP

    Jail? Outside Punjab? Free? Where is Amritpal Singh?

    Jail? Outside Punjab? Free? Where is Amritpal Singh?

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    India ready to unveil New Trade Policy with ambitious targets

    India ready to unveil New Trade Policy with ambitious targets

    The thread that connects Adani, Credit Suisse, and Karma

    The thread that connects Adani, Credit Suisse, and Karma

    Domestic wheels will drive reforms in Indian railways

    Domestic wheels will drive reforms in Indian railways

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    Rs. 70,500 Crore in Clearances Set to Transform Military Capabilities

    Rs. 70,500 Crore in Clearances Set to Transform Military Capabilities

    A Delicate Balance: Dibang Multipurpose Dam Project and Its Impacts

    A Delicate Balance: Dibang Multipurpose Dam Project and Its Impacts

    India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400

    India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

    UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

    SCO Defence ministers meet: A Story of Second Chances and Stubborn Pride

    SCO Defence ministers meet: A Story of Second Chances and Stubborn Pride

    Preferential Trade Agreement

    Indonesia Extends Olive Branch to India with PTA Invitation

    Civil war pakistan

    Pakistan civil war is on the horizon, faster than we anticipated

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Polio vaccine in India

    Polio vaccine in India: Why did it take so long?

    Bucher Paper

    Unearthing the Dark Secrets of Nehru’s Reign: The Roy Bucher Papers

    10 Most viewed videos on YouTube in the world

    10 Most viewed videos on YouTube in the world [Updated 2023]

    Karol Bagh Hanuman Mandir

    Karol Bagh Hanuman Mandir, Timings, Travel Guide, History and How to reach

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway movie

    Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway Movie: A tale of two cultures

    Sam Bahadur film

    The pressure is on: Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Sam Bahadur’ must deliver

    Games subscription

    Unlocking New Payment Options Through Online Video Games

    5am club_Robin Sharma book

    Awaken Your Success: 10 Lessons from The 5 AM Club Book

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
Tfipost.com
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

    Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

    enemy properties

    Home Ministry to sell enemy properties worth Rs 1 trillion

    Kerala Christians BJP

    Kerala Christians’ puts one condition to vote for BJP

    Jail? Outside Punjab? Free? Where is Amritpal Singh?

    Jail? Outside Punjab? Free? Where is Amritpal Singh?

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    India ready to unveil New Trade Policy with ambitious targets

    India ready to unveil New Trade Policy with ambitious targets

    The thread that connects Adani, Credit Suisse, and Karma

    The thread that connects Adani, Credit Suisse, and Karma

    Domestic wheels will drive reforms in Indian railways

    Domestic wheels will drive reforms in Indian railways

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    From Pipeline to Power Grid: India and Bangladesh Forge Stronger Energy Bonds

    Rs. 70,500 Crore in Clearances Set to Transform Military Capabilities

    Rs. 70,500 Crore in Clearances Set to Transform Military Capabilities

    A Delicate Balance: Dibang Multipurpose Dam Project and Its Impacts

    A Delicate Balance: Dibang Multipurpose Dam Project and Its Impacts

    India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400

    India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

    UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

    SCO Defence ministers meet: A Story of Second Chances and Stubborn Pride

    SCO Defence ministers meet: A Story of Second Chances and Stubborn Pride

    Preferential Trade Agreement

    Indonesia Extends Olive Branch to India with PTA Invitation

    Civil war pakistan

    Pakistan civil war is on the horizon, faster than we anticipated

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Polio vaccine in India

    Polio vaccine in India: Why did it take so long?

    Bucher Paper

    Unearthing the Dark Secrets of Nehru’s Reign: The Roy Bucher Papers

    10 Most viewed videos on YouTube in the world

    10 Most viewed videos on YouTube in the world [Updated 2023]

    Karol Bagh Hanuman Mandir

    Karol Bagh Hanuman Mandir, Timings, Travel Guide, History and How to reach

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway movie

    Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway Movie: A tale of two cultures

    Sam Bahadur film

    The pressure is on: Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Sam Bahadur’ must deliver

    Games subscription

    Unlocking New Payment Options Through Online Video Games

    5am club_Robin Sharma book

    Awaken Your Success: 10 Lessons from The 5 AM Club Book

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
Tfipost.com
No Result
View All Result

HOME » Geopolitics » Asia Pacific » Kra Canal: China is creating another naval route to escape a blockade by India and only Thailand can stop it

Kra Canal: China is creating another naval route to escape a blockade by India and only Thailand can stop it

Akshay Narang
by Akshay Narang
8 July 2020
in Asia Pacific
0
Kra Canal, Isthmus of Kra, Thailand, Prayut Chan-o-cha, China, BRI, Malacca strait, Thailand, Xi Jinping,
8.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A new geopolitical challenge night be knocking at the doors of democratic countries like India, Vietnam and Australia in the Indo-Pacific Region. These countries want to contain Chinese influence in the region and thwart its blue-water Navy ambitions. But China is trying to find a Suez Canal of its own.

China has been looking to construct a 120-kilometre mega canal cutting through the isthmus of Kra in Thailand, which would help it solve the “Malacca Dilemma,” as it will open the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, bypassing the Strait of Malacca. What China is eyeing is a canal project in Thailand called the Kra Canal, and the Thai leadership seems to be on board.

Kra Canal, Thailand, China, BRI, Malacca strait,

Through this canal, China is trying to reduce dependence on the Strait of Malacca. Currently, 80 per cent of China’s oil imports pass through the South China Sea via the Strait of Malacca.

A key reason why China has not been able to grow too powerful is the looming threat that democratic and fair powers like India and Australia and other Southeast Asian nations are well-positioned to cut-off Chinese supply lines in event of a major military confrontation by creating a blockade around the Strait of Malacca.

China wants to ensure that its commercial and naval vessels find an alternate route that altogether avoids the Malacca chokepoint while travelling between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This is an overhang of the maritime portion of Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that seeks to connect Southeast Asia with the Middle East and Europe.

Writing for The Tribune in 2018, Vivek Katju, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs has encapsulated this geopolitical situation accurately.

Katju said, “The Malacca choke makes China uneasy, for it is not only dependent on West Asian oil which passes through the straits, but also its general trade uses these waters. Hence, the canal alternative is strategically valid.”

According to Firstpost, the Indian government sources have said that Longhao, a Chinese company that is infamous for involvement in the Chinese government’s artificial island-building spree in the South China Sea will be given the responsibility for building the Kra Canal.

Private Chinese investors have already committed an investment of 30 billion US dollars for the construction of the Kra Canal. Presently, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered feasibility studies to examine the economic viability of the 120-kilometre long mega canal.

At the outset, however, it seems that investments on the Canal would not offer rich returns. The Suez Canal and the Panama Canal were successful projects because they bypassed entire continents and thus charged hefty fees from large ships- 2,50,000 dollars and 1,25,000 dollars respectively.

But the returns with the Kra Canal will not be that lucrative. Additional fuel costs for alternate routes through the Malacca, Sunda or Lombok Straits go up to 40,000 dollars to 1,20,000 dollars. This is not enough to justify the costs of an upcoming Kra Canal.

Chinese investments are hard loans that impose exorbitant, commercial interest rates. As we have seen with Laos, the Maldives and the Hambantota port project in Sri Lanka, BRI infrastructure projects are rarely viable.

Countries end up paying with their territorial sovereignty when they cannot pay in terms of money. This is how Beijing has been targeting ports and other strategic infrastructure. A mega canal in Thailand could be its next big target.

Scholar Ivica Kinder further states, “The history of the Panama and Suez canals shows that despite the unquestionable economic advantages of a canal, one country’s funding of its construction on the territory of another country usually leads to the spread of significant influence by the first country.”

If Thailand’s Prime Minister decides to go ahead with the Kra Canal project and that too with the present arrangement of heavy Chinese investment, then the project might get ready by the end of the next decade.

Consequently, the Strait of Malacca would stand bypassed and China will end up controlling a Canal that flows into the Andaman Sea. This would a massive setback for the free world.

Not only will it pose a direct naval threat to India from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), but it will also deprive fair players like Australia and India of a strategic advantage over Beijing.

India, in particular, will have to make a military re-posturing in order to meet the Chinese threat.

Thailand must re-think its ambitions to build the Kra Canal. It is well-understood in the entire Indo-Pacific Region that China cannot be a friend. Thailand itself doesn’t stand to gain anything by letting China overwhelm its territorial sovereignty.

A decision against Chinese investment in the Kra Canal has to come from Thailand because only Thailand can make a decision about its own territorial interests, no matter how badly other countries might be getting affected.

Secondly, Thailand must understand that it is a part of the ASEAN bloc and it must realise how Beijing has been bullying Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia in the South China Sea. Thailand cannot let Beijing use its territory for hurting Thailand’s ASEAN friends.

Within New Delhi, there should be an attempt to engage Thailand before its too late. Bangkok must be told that if it really wants to build the Canal, it must do so with help of fair players like India and the US instead of relying upon a belligerent China.

The Canal might be built in Thailand, but many countries are bound to get affected. A solution must be found to this geopolitical threat as overwhelming investment from Chinese companies would ensure that China usurps sovereignty over the canal, using it for its own advantage, furthering its naval and economic ambitions. Vivek Katju suggested, “One way to do so would be to ensure that except Thailand no other country is allowed to use it for the passage of its naval vessels. That will assuage strategic apprehensions of the region and beyond.”

A belligerent China is trying to clear the only hurdle in its expansionist tendencies, viz. the Malacca Strait, and the world must grow aware of this nefarious attempt before it is too late.

Tags: B&RIChinaIsthmus of KraKra CanalMalacca straitPrayut Chan-o-chaThailandXi Jinping
Share293TweetSend
Previous Post

‘Secularism’ is out of syllabus for this year. Might sound like a small little thing but its effects will be far reaching

Next Post

Thanks to Xi Jinping, China has lost more in the last few months than it did in decades

Akshay Narang

Akshay Narang

Patriot, Political Analyst, Amateur Historian

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

  • Most Read
  • Comments
  • Latest
Xi Jinping, coronavirus, Shinzo Abe, china, Japan, coornavirus, COVID-19, Wuhan Virus

‘Pack up and get out of there,’ Japan to spend $2.2 billion to get Japanese companies to exit China

9 April 2020
ajay devgn karan johar

The man who bullied the Bully – How Ajay Devgn made Karan Johar’s monopoly a joke and forced him to apologize

22 June 2020
Huawei, China, Trump, USA, Xi Jinping

‘Our survival is at stake now,’ Chinese Telecom giant Huawei crumbles after US ban on Semiconductor exports

19 May 2020
T-Series Sonu Nigam Divya Khosla Kumar Bhushan Kumar

T-Series forced to take down Atif Aslam’s video, Divya Khosla trolled. T-Series has a bad day in office

25 June 2020
Meat Ban

A Jain responds to Meat Ban in Mumbai

Public Sector Bank, Government, Bill

Dear bank employees, continue your stride but PSBs will be privatized

anti-Hindi

Anti-Hindi Forever?- In search of a National Language!

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

Explainer: The working model of Bhindrawale 2.0

21 March 2023
enemy properties

Home Ministry to sell enemy properties worth Rs 1 trillion

21 March 2023
Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway movie

Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway Movie: A tale of two cultures

21 March 2023
UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

UK will have to pay for not taking actions against ISI and Khalistani

21 March 2023

Popular This Week

India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400
Defence

India’s Potent Mini Missile: The Indigenous “S-400

by Shubham Bajpai
17 March 2023
Social Media is divided over Swati Maliwal’s allegation
Politics

Social Media is divided over Swati Maliwal’s allegation

by Paurush Gupta
13 March 2023
Oh!! Shut up Jagmeet Singh
Opinions

Oh!! Shut up Jagmeet Singh

by Sabita Mishra
20 March 2023
The Price of Desperation: The Impact of Illegal Immigration on India
Politics

The Price of Desperation: The Impact of Illegal Immigration on India

by Paurush Gupta
18 March 2023
Homi Bhabha
Trending

Who killed Homi Bhabha? The mystery behind India’s nuclear pioneer’s death

by Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra
30 October 2021

©2023 TFI Media Private Limited

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
No Result
View All Result
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
TFI Official Merchandise
TFI हिन्दी
TFI Global
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships

©2023 TFI Media Private Limited

Follow us on Twitter

and never miss an insightful take by the TFIPOST team

Follow @tfipost