Agreed, and you brought up a good point on smaller states being losers; regional states probably want some friction between China and US, because it gives them a bit of room to maneuver and play both ends against the middle. Once Washington and Beijing reach modis viendi, then the smaller states lose whatever independence to colluding great powers.
Because Andamen and Nicobar islands are not disputed. India owns them. Full stop.
Can you provide a link to that? FONOP on another nation is a major and stunning change of strategy for Beijing, so I doubt it's US-style FONOP.
Well said. I think China and US are awkwardly prancing around, because they're still learning how to deal with each other. Beijing says SCS is "core interest," and US says freedom of navigation is "core interest." So, unless both sides give and take, things will get nastier before they get better. To complicate things, neocons dominate both governments, so there's absolute no give by either side. Until America gets another Reagan at the same time China gets another Deng, the best we could do is status quo and no conflicts.