Regional Cooperation Necessary to Manage Resources in Asia, Insist Experts

February 20, 2014

New Delhi: A need for regional cooperation to manage resources in Asia was voiced during the second day of the Asian Security Conference on ‘Emerging Strategic Trends in Asia and India’s Response’ at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on February 20, 2014. In an animated discussion on Resource Stress in Asia, the speakers identified four A’s for achieving energy security in Asia: Availability, Accessibility, Affordability and Acceptability.

Chinese scholar Huang Ying, while reflecting on urbanisation and water security in China, said that China needs to establish domestic legal framework, along with developing regional cooperative frameworks with neighbouring countries to manage scarce resources. Information sharing on resources should be the first step for China and neighbours, she added.

Also speaking in the session were Bobby A Tamaela Wattimena of Indonesia, senior analyst Mukul Sanwal and Yashika Singh, Economist at The Rio Tinto. The Chair Uttam Sinha suggested that the world is going to be ‘downstream’.

The concept of ocean economy and Indian Ocean Rim were discussed during the session on ‘Ocean Governance in Indo-Pacific’, with speakers insisting that Ocean economy has multinational and international and business endorsement. It was stated that IORA is a forum that engages for economic cooperation and development and excludes political dimension and the IORA leadership will create a paradigm shift. Speaking on the 9 Dash line, Chinese scholars insisted that it is difficult to solve the dispute, unless the meaning is understood.

Yesterday, in a session on Asia’s Geopolitical Future, the discussion revolved around bi-polar Asia, whether a framework of rules and norms will evolve in Asia, issues of ideology, military power and the role of Russia in Asia. A distinction was made between multilateralism as a strategy and multi-polarity as representing the structure of international politics. It was pointed out that competition is inevitable in Asia due to the conflicting interests of many of its actors, including the US. Interestingly, the alternate trend is a process of dialogue underway especially between the US and China on norm building in Asia.

During the course of discussion, it was stated that while territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas by themselves do not constitute a threat, it is domestic politics, which utilizes these issues for confrontation that has emerged as a critical cause of concern. It was indicated that within Japan, while the older generation is much more open and flexible, the younger generation is becoming more nationalistic. Australia’s role in Asia was defined as motivated to maintain US preponderance in Asia especially for purposes of freedom of navigation.

Discussing the Military trends in Asia, the speakers argued that China’s military capabilities far outstrip that of any of its neighbours resulting in neighbouring countries building up their maritime capabilities. On the other hand, India’s modernization is aimed at defending its territorial and trade interests.

The Raksha Rajya Mantri, Shri Jitendra Singh also released IDSA publications, ‘Central Asia: Democracy, Instability and Strategic Game in Kyrgyzstan’ by Ambassador P Stobdan and Emerging Trends in West Asia: Regional and Global Implications’ edited by Dr Meena Singh Roy.