India Ready to Host Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue Next Month

India is steadily putting in place building blocks for Indo-Pacific, a construct whose contours are defined differently by countries on either side of the oceans. Close on the heels of the EAS Conference on Maritime Security, New Delhi is gearing up to host the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue next month.

It is India’s attempt to work out a loose-knit arrangement based on cooperation with countries sharing the maritime space, common concerns and challenges.

Outlining seven pillars of Indo-Pacific which India is working on, Additional Secretary Vikram Doriaswami, told a conference recently, include maritime security and domain awareness; protecting marine environment; humanitarian disaster and risk mitigation; sustainable use of maritime resources; science and technology-based cooperation; capacity building; and maritime transportation and trade.

New Delhi’s attempt is based on a practical dimension of the concept and to build upon it through cooperation with countries in the region and those powers with interest in the region. The idea, Doraiswami said, at the ORF Conference on the subject was that all seven pillars need not be taken together rather to provide an opportunity to work together with some countries and others could join. “… there would be areas of both convergence and divergence”.

The objective of the last week’s EAS Conference, organised jointly by India, Australia and Indonesia, was to share with member countries New Delhi’s concept and understand viewpoint of the partner countries on various issues of maritime security cooperation and come up with suggestions on tackling in a cooperative manner, challenges in the maritime domain.

The basic concept of India’s understanding of Indo-Pacific was outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2018 Shangri La Dialogue as a free, open and inclusive region for all countries and ASEAN centrality. India, he emphasised, does not see it as a strategy or as a club of limited members.

Taking forward steps in this area, the National Maritime Foundation, think-tank of the Indian Navy, is organising the fourth Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue on March 16 and 17 in New Delhi. The concept papers do mention that “Inclusivity and transparency are fundamental to India’s Indo-Pacific formulation.

Broad contours of maritime cooperation

• It is India’s attempt to work out a loose-knit arrangement based on cooperation with countries sharing the maritime space, some common concerns and challenges
• Seven pillars of Indo-Pacific, which India is working on, include maritime security, marine environment protection, tech-based cooperation and maritime transportation and trade

Source: Tribune India

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