13th NMF-RSIS DIALOGUE ON 10, 11 & 12 JULY 2024
CONCEPT NOTE
The NMF and the RSiS share a deep and enduring relationship that has been nurtured and strengthened over the course of numerous engagements, joint endeavours and, in particular, the twelve editions of the “NMF-RSiS Dialogue” held thus far, which have served to foster a strong foundation of trust and collaboration, resulting in significant policy-relevant inputs for advancing broader India-Singapore cooperation. In progressing these dialogues, the consistent effort of both institutions is to identify new maritime convergences and the opportunities arising therefrom to enhance cooperative and collaborative efforts towards promoting regional security, stability, growth, and sustainable development.
The deliberations of the 13th edition of this dialogue, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on 10, 11, and 12 July 2024, will take place against a backdrop of an increasingly complex set of maritime challenges that face both countries in the Indo-Pacific. In endeavouring to address these complex challenges, the dialogue seeks to use the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific” (AOIP) and the “Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative” (IPOI) — that deeply interconnected web with its seven lines-of-thrust — as its broad frames of reference. In this regard, maritime manifestations of Singapore’s lead of the “Science, Technology, and Academic Cooperation” pillar/spoke of the IPOI, by way of specific initiatives and projects will be an area of particular focus.
The dialogue will also address maritime connectivity relevant to India and Singapore (including port infrastructure, shipping routes, and digital maritime networks) and deliberate upon maritime options to mitigate the adverse impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the worsening geopolitical situation in the East- and the South China Sea, as also and the Red Sea crisis upon regional trade, supply chains, and marine resources. Strategies for information-sharing, joint exercises, and capacity building to develop effective responses to shared security challenges, will also be debated.
In recent years, China’s increasing aggressive and assertive rise has raised significant concerns for regional security across the Indo-Pacific. Singapore plays an important balancing role in this regard and this dialogue will seek to better understand the shift of the Singapore-China Relationship from an “All-Round Cooperative Partnership Progressing with the Times” to one described as an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership”. There are a variety of models for the generation of maritime situational awareness (MSA) and the amalgamation of such situational awareness across different geographies that might lead to maritime domain awareness (MDA). These include models adopted by Singapore’s “Changi Command and Control Centre”, and the more benign and perhaps better known “Information Fusion Centre” (IFC), India’s “Information Management and Analysis Centre” (IMAC) and the “Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region” (IFC-IOR). In recognition and acknowledgement of the fact that the PRC’s own models for situational awareness within its maritime zones, across the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean — incorporating space as well as the deep seabed — are of at least matching importance, and this dialogue will seek to shed some light on this hitherto neglected set of models.
In summary, the 13th NMF-RSiS Dialogue will endeavour to advance information and knowledge and engage in robust deliberations with an intent to further strengthen maritime cooperation between India and Singapore and, in the process, to provide policy inputs to relevant “Track One” echelons of both countries.
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