Indo Pacific Asia: The Strategic Enlargement Of The Asia Pacific – OpEd September 19, 2013 By Dr Subhash Kapila, Eurasia Review

ndo Pacific Asia: The Strategic Enlargement Of The Asia Pacific – OpEd

CHINA CLAIMS TO SOUTH CHINA SEA

By SAAG

September 19, 2013

By Dr Subhash Kapila

The Indo Pacific Asia strategic concept which is finding favour with the United States, India and Australia is a big strategic leap in the Asian security strategic discourse. It is a strategic enlargement of the Asia Pacific template which has lasted for nearly half a century.

The Asia Pacific security construct was now emerging as too restrictive a concept with its focus on East Asia and a marginal focus on South East Asia. This concept primarily focussed on the Western Pacific and the power-play of USA, China and Japan. It did not incorporate the Indian Ocean where global maritime rivalries will increasingly manifest them.

The political, economic and military rise of India; the US-India Strategic Partnership; China’s not so benign military rise; China’s increasing forays in the Indian Ocean; India’s legitimate stakes in the security of the South China Sea and the growing strategic convergences between India, Japan and Australia injected newer dynamics in both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Conflict escalation by China of the South China Sea conflicts especially in the period 2990-2009 was another strategic stimulant for the evolution of the Indo Pacific Asia strategic construct

The South China Sea extending from South of Taiwan to the Straits of Malacca was a critical geostrategic entity which joined the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. Amongst many other reasons for China’s conflict escalation was the ambition to dominate the entire South China Sea claimed by it under the Nine Dash Declaration and China’s declaration that the South China Sea was China’s “Core Interest” and that China would be ready to go to war to defend this assertion.

It seems to have dawned at the apex strategic levels in United States, India and Australia that in the unfolding Asia Pacific security environment being destabilised by China and the maritime rivalries for control of the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean between them and China, the strategic overlaps needed to be sanctified by the strategic enlargement of the current Asia Pacific construct to the much wider expanse of Indo Pacific Asia so that better integration of naval effort by them to maintain security and stability in the Indian and Pacific Oceans could be achieved.

Even though presently Indo Pacific Asia is not a regional security system but the fact remains that a lot of naval and maritime cooperation is underway between the Navies of the United States, Japan, India ,Australia and other Asia navies both bilaterally andultilaterlly.

The Indo Pacific strategic formulation draws in more deeply India and Australia into an overall Asian maritime security architecture or template better termed as Indo Pacific or Indo Pacific Asia.

In the last few years strategic discourse in Australia seems to have been actively engrossed in defining the Indo Pacific Asia strategic construct and a few of their concept definitions are placed below to give an idea as to what all it e compasses.

“Indo Pacific or Indo Pacific Asia is also the best available shorthand for an emerging Asian maritime strategic system that encompasses the Pacific and Indian Oceans, defined in large part by the geographically expanding interests and reach of China and India and the continued strategic ole and presence of the United States.” Rory Medcalf in ‘The Interpreter 2012

“The Indo Pacific power highway takes the pivot of world power from the Northern Pacific and Northern Atlantic to the Southern and Eastern coasts of the Asian landmass. It is here that the dynamism of the world economy and course, and where rivalries and alignments that shape the way the world works will be played out.” Professor Michael Wesley, Australian National University.

“In this century, the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean Rim which some now refer to as the Indo Pacific will become the world’s centre of gravity.” Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith

Generally, these are acceptable definitional conceptions of the Indo Pacific Asia or Indo Pacific

Evident from the above is the omission of any references to China though in one or two articles it is argued that China should not be excluded. In available reports China has not reacted kindly to the introduction of this new construct in strategic discourse.

However it also cannot be denied that the Indo Pacific Asia strategic construct has emerged more so after the conflict escalation of the South China Sea conflicts.

It is quite likely in the future that should China continue with its aggressive brinkmanship on many of the territorial and maritime sovereignty that it is involved in Asia, the strategic construct of Indo Pacific Asia may ultimately acquire regional security overtones.

In terms of naval or maritime cooperation and developing inter-operability between their Navies we have the revived groupings coming into play once again, namely, the Unite States-Japan-India Trilateral and the United States-Japan-India –Australia Quadrilateral. Alongside, fairly large number of bilateral naval exercises between these nations is also taking place along with other South East Asian navies.

Many interpretations can be given to the strategic enlargement of the Asia Pacific template to one of Indo Pacific Asia and one of these may also be that coming after South China Sea conflict escalation by China, this is possibly an attempt to cater for the ‘China Threat’ manifesting itself in the Western Pacific and the Indian Oceans.

(Dr. Subhash Kapila is the Consultant, International Relations & Strategic Affairs, South Asia Analysis Group. He can be reached at drsubhashkapila.007@gmail.com)