‘Australia recognises strategic significance of Indian Ocean’ | Daily News

‘Australia recognises strategic significance of Indian Ocean’

Frances Adamson
Frances Adamson

“We want to work with all our partners in the region to create a strong Indian Ocean personality that will draw the diverse countries of our region together,” Secretary of the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Frances Adamson said.

She was addressing the Indian Ocean Conference in Colombo recently

Adamson said all countries should work together to shape a strong regional order based on adherence to international law.

“We need to consult and collaborate on regional challenges. We need to build stronger regional institutions. We need to step up our engagement with regional partners on our own terms and where it is in our long-term interests,” she said

She said she was pleased to have the opportunity to present an Australian perspective on peace in the Indian Ocean, whose waters wash the shores of Western Australia. “Australia’s search and rescue region stretches halfway across the Indian Ocean and borders the search and rescue regions of six other Indian Ocean countries.

She said European nations found themselves at war a century ago. “It was a time of intense great power rivalry, driven by rapid industrialisation and shifts in global economic power. It was a time of rapid technological change and sharp military competition. It was also a time of unprecedented globalisation, which made life substantially materially better for many people, but there were also many people all over the world left behind and there were pockets of instability,” she said.

“The idea that a conflict could arise out of Europe today is very unlikely – Brexit changes nothing in that calculation. Global disparities are nowhere near as stark as they were a century ago. There are many more successful societies these days, on the back of decades of peace and prosperity, including here in the Indo-Pacific,” she said.

“Three characteristics – great power rivalry, rapid technological change and unprecedented globalisation – are all present today, as we’ve been reminded very forcefully in the past few weeks with heightened global concern around North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

“Today, intensifying great power rivalries are found here in the Indo-Pacific. Seventy two years since they were last deployed in war, nuclear weapons are now held by the widest grouping of states in their history. Nations across the Indo-Pacific are modernising their military forces in accordance with their newfound economic strength. The international community is more globalised today than ever before, but economically, politically, socially, North Korea is deeply isolated,” Adamson said.

She said that when it was thought about what sort of Indian Ocean region needed to build in the decades ahead, it was not one characterised by conflict. “|On the contrary, we don’t want the Indian Ocean to become a militarised arena for great power rivalry,”| she said.

“At this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Prime Minister Turnbull put this question to the countries of the Indo-Pacific: “even when the risk of war remains remote – what kind of peace can we maintain?” Adamson said.

“All countries represented here today have a fundamental national interest in fostering peace and security in the Indian Ocean region. But peace, stability and security do not just happen. They require collective, proactive efforts to shape a stable rules-based regional order. They require all countries to establish and uphold norms and mechanisms for dealing peacefully with risks and threats before they become existential. With the global order in a state of flux, the countries of the Indian Ocean rim need to step up our collective efforts to shape the future of our region,” the Secretary said.

She said competition between littoral states had defined the geopolitical character of the Atlantic and Pacific. and historically, the character of the Atlantic had been shaped by rivalry between great powers and a grand alliance between North America and Europe, NATO. She said that over centuries, it had been marked by a sharp divide between North and South, particularly regarding the experience and legacy of imperialism and colonialism.

“Since the Cold War, the Pacific has been a story of Asian powers rising against a backdrop of strong US leadership. The countries of the Pacific have built extensive architecture to strengthen habits of dialogue, cooperation and consultation. Australia played a key role in building APEC and (around the ASEAN core) the East Asia Summit, and we are active in supporting their continuing development,” she said.

“It is in no-one’s interest to see the Indian Ocean militarised for great power rivalry. We don’t see here maritime and territorial disputes like those in the South China Sea. It is in our interests to maintain that approach, as India and Bangladesh did in their UNCLOS conciliation. It is in our interests to build peace on our own terms, by establishing and reinforcing the norms and rules we want, including freedom of navigation and overflight, before they are established for us.

“We need to work together proactively to shape a rules-based regional order that protects national sovereignty, and promotes collaboration and consultation. We want to encourage all states to respect international law, including UNCLOS, and we need to recognise the complexity of our strategic environment, which is why Australia is preparing a Foreign Policy White Paper for release this year,” she said

Adamson said it was necessary to work harder to build regional security architecture for the Indian Ocean. Countries of the Indian Ocean could learn lessons from ASEAN’s success, she said.

She said Indian Ocean architecture had been limited at present.

“The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is the region’s premier forum for high-level dialogue. We must continue to support and strengthen its role in tackling regional challenges but we need to work to sharpen IORA’s strategic focus.

“Australia welcomes the work of sub-regional forums, such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC),” she said.

“We are working together with regional partners on informal trilateral and small groupings such as the Secretary-level India-Japan-Australia trilateral dialogue, which last met in April, and a 1.5 track Australia-India-Indonesia Trilateral Dialogue due to take place in November.

“In these efforts, we welcome India’s leadership role, and that of South Africa, through IORA,” she said.

“India is an emerging great power and a natural leader in the Indian Ocean region and globally. We support the role India has played in helping shape the strategic and economic environment in the Indian Ocean region. We welcome India’s strengthened relationship with the United States and increased engagement in the broader Indo-Pacific, including with ASEAN-centred forums,” she said.

She said India’s trajectory boded well for our region and all stood to benefit from India’s rise.

“We welcome India’s growing ties with Indonesia. Indonesia is a long-standing partner for Australia on regional challenges in the Asia-Pacific and, increasingly, the Indian Ocean region. It too is an emerging regional and global power with tremendous potential for growth. As Chair of IORA since 2015, Indonesia has showed vision and ambition in bringing together leaders for IORA’s 20th Anniversary. The Jakarta Concord, signed by leaders at the IORA Leaders’ Summit in March, was an important affirmation of our shared commitment to building peace, stability and prosperity in our region.

“We look forward to working with South Africa when it becomes IORA Chair next month. Although Australia will move out of the IORA Troika, we intend to continue to play an active role in building IORA into a stronger, more effective and influential organisation.

“It isn’t only the region’s four G20 countries that have a leadership role to play in the region. Australia applauds Sri Lanka’s ambition to become a trading hub.

“Geography is on its side. As economic power in the world shifts from West to East, with the rise of India and China, Sri Lanka is in a box seat. As it moves forward its economic and constitutional reform agenda in order to progress reconciliation, we see great promise for this island country,” she said.

“In the decades ahead, external powers will have legitimate interests in our region. Indian Ocean shipping lanes are crucial to the energy security and economies of other countries around the world. Over 80 per cent of China’s crude oil imports and up to 90 per cent of Japan’s oil imports are shipped through the Indian Ocean. Half of the world’s container traffic transits through the Indian Ocean.

“We should welcome constructive engagement from external powers. It is in the region’s interests to increase dialogue, links and cooperation with partners around the world.

“We should also welcome greater engagement from outside our region on regional development initiatives, including initiatives to improve regional connectivity and infrastructure. These must be transparent, uphold existing international standards, provide genuine commercial opportunities for business and respect the sovereignty of Indian Ocean countries,” Adamson said.


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