‘Indo-Pacific’ is a relatively new and evolving concept, whose usage in foreign policy and strategic articulations has gained much currency in the recent past. The ‘rise’ of Asia— particularly China and India—have made the concept highly relevant, in both geo- strategic and economic terms. For much of the twentieth century, the concept of the ‘Indo-Pacific’—initially […]
The Indian Ocean has immense potential in providing sustainable livelihood and economic development to its littoral countries. Exploring marine resources for economic development while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities has now come to be known as Blue Economy. There are many initiatives that have been taken up so far, since the evolution of […]
Earlier this month, during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and Foreign Ministers’ Meetings of the East Asia Summit (EAS) meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi elaborated on China’s position on the South China Sea and assured that his country endorses and upholds international norms for unimpeded maritime transit by global […]
The Security Environment in East Asia The East China Sea dispute presents a major challenge for the US-Japan alliance. This dispute is over the Senkaku (Diayou in Chinese) Islands, a group of five islands in the East China Sea that are uninhabited and currently controlled by Japan, but contested by the People‟s Republic of China […]
The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) initiatives to ensure physical safety and security of maritime infrastructure have proven successful and a number of regulatory mechanisms are in place to ensure safe and secure commerce. The IMO is now developing guidelines against cyber-attacks on the maritime infrastructure. At the 94th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) […]
A humanitarian crisis in the Bay of Bengal has attracted international attention; over 4,000 Rohingya migrants, also referred to as the ‘boat people’, embarked on rickety vessels have been sighted or intercepted by the maritime security forces of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Many more may still be at sea and their handlers are waiting […]
World Ocean Day (WOD), celebrated on 08 June every year, brings an opportunity to raise global awareness of the impacts of human actions on the ocean, and to mobilize support for sustainable global ocean management. It was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil […]
China has been issuing Defence White Papers biennially since 1998. The ninth White Paper of 2014 titled ‘China’s Military Strategy’ was released recently in May 2015. This essay seeks to analyse the salient aspects of the document, particularly in context of the preceding document of 2012 released in April 2013. In comparison to the Defence […]
The 26th ASEAN Summit concluded in Kuala Lumpur on 27 April 2015 with the ministers once again ‘sharing concerns’ over the outstanding maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea (SCS). In acknowledgment of certain member states’ alarm at China’s expanding footprint in the disputed island groups, a reference was made in the Chairman’s Statement […]
Japan released its latest edition of Defense White Paper titled ‘Defense of Japan 2013’ on July 9, 2013. While describing the Defense Policies of Countries which possibly affect the Security Environment Surrounding Japan, the paper contended that “… in regard to the issues of conflicting interests with its surrounding countries, including Japan, China has attempted […]
The first-ever joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine (HADR & MM) Exercise under the auspices of the ‘ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus’ (ADMM+), was conducted with great professionalism from June 17-20, 2013 in Brunei. The military participants in this exercise were from the ASEAN countries and also included eight dialogue partners viz. […]
The Vietnamese National Assembly passed a ‘Law on Vietnamese Sea’[1] on June 21, 2012, which provides legal basis for defining its internal waters, territorial waters, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zones (EEZ), continental shelf, islands, the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and other archipelagoes under Vietnam’s sovreignty, sovereign right and national jurisdiction. It […]