National Security think tank INSSSL holds conference on
Indo-Pacific geopolitics and connectivity
The Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka
(INSSSL) hosted a round table Discussion on “Indo Pacific: Security,
Geopolitics and Connectivity” at the INSSSL auditorium last week.
The discussion, incorporated the Sri Lankan, Japanese
and Australian perspectives on the emerging strategic environs of the
Indo-Pacific region with regards to security, geopolitics and connectivity. It
also analyzed the Indo-Pacific Strategic Report (IPSR) by the United States
Department of Defense, which was released just a fortnight ago.
The discussion moderated by Dr. Ranga Jayasuriya,
Senior Research Fellow at the INSSSL, and paneled by Prof. Asanga
Abeygoonasekara, Director General of the INSSSL; Dr. Satoru Nagao, Visiting Fellow at Hudson
Institute; Rear Admiral Noel Kalubowila; Ms. Lucy Stronach, Intern Research
Assistant at INSSSL, and Ms. Ruwanthi
Jayasekara, Research Assistant at INSSSL, was attended by distinguished officers
form Embassies and High Commissions and officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Dr. Ranga Jayasuriya, the moderator of the panel, opened the discussion by
illustrating the relationship between security, geopolitics and connectivity
with regards the Indo-Pacific region, with a particular emphasis on the
directives taken by China to enhance connectivity with the region. He observed
that the contemporary great power competition is waged not so much through
weapons, but through connectivity in the form of large foreign funded
infrastructure projects. He noted that Chinese funded connectivity projects translates
into geopolitical influence, effectively causing a classic security dilemma for
other regional states, which in turn has led the regional states to act to
increase their own security, thus leading to covert and overt means of
balancing initiatives and regional alignments.
The first panelist, Dr. Satoru Nagao initiated the discussion by drawing attention to as
to how Japan, India and Sri Lanka should
respond to the US-China confrontation. Adopting a Japanese perspective, Dr
Nagao traced Japan’s own tragic history of confrontation with the US.
Juxtaposing technological, economic and defense superiority of US vis a vis
China, he argued that the US will emerge the ‘victor’ in the US-China
confrontation in the long-term, and concluded that therefore, it is ‘wise’ for
Sri Lanka, Japan and India to support US attempts at re-balancing China in the
Indo-Pacific region. He implored on the regional states to reduce economic dependence on China, while
enhancing their own defense capabilities for the short term in cooperation with
US and with each other.
Ms. Lucy Stronach analyzed the role of Australia in the Indo-Pacific
under the four pillars of economic, environmental, educational and cultural,
and security. Ms. Stronach drew on Australia’s various attempts at wielding soft power in the region,
and pointed out its shortfalls due to Canberra’s policy on climate change and asylum seekers.
She commented on its recent attempts at cooperating on
defense, regionally with Sri Lanka, and globally with US. She concluded that
Australia has however, underestimated the influence of China in the region, and
must invest more in the Indo-Pacific region and in countries like Sri Lanka.
Prof. Asanga Abeygoonasekara followed up the discussion with his remarks on
China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and Indo-Pacific Region. Commenting on the
first ever release of a report on the Indo-Pacific region by US, he noted that
the IPSR contained explicit concerns of the US about the Chinese “revisionist”
threat to US and to the global order as it attempts to re-arrange the power
structure of the region.
He seconded Dr. Nagao’s view of the BRI as the “only
game in town,” and remarked its importance in South Asia with poor
infrastructure. He commented that India,
critical of the Chinese measures is increasingly partnering with the US, while
counter-balancing China also happens through “quadrilateral grouping” (US,
India, Japan and Asutralia),. He also
contended that the overly distrustful view on BRI by Japan, India, US, is at times merely based on
speculation. Recognizing Sri Lanka as a multi-aligned nation, “a tight rope
walker” he noted that Colombo should strike a balance between US and China,
while advancing Sri Lanka’s own national
interest.
Rear Admiral Noel Kalubowila spoke about maritime security of the Indo-Pacific
region, and noted that the US-China
confrontation has become the main security dynamic in the region. Analyzing the
recent defense policy papers and security measures undertaken by the regional
states, he observed that China’s investment to establish a maritime port
network through its Silk Route project has triggered regional reactions such as
Australia’s strategic interest in the region, Japanese interest in tightening
maritime security through cooperation with US, and changing its longstanding
no-war posture in the constitution. Remarking that the US was traditionally the
extra-regional influence in the Indo-Pacific region, he pointed out that it is now
being confronted by China, which has led to a heightened US maritime deployment.
Underscoring the overarching importance of ensuring maritime security, he urged
all regional states to resolve their competing territorial and maritime claims
abiding by the maritime law and the Law of the Sea Convention
Delivering her
presentation on ‘a global perspective on India’s stance on Indo-Pacific,’
Ms Ruwanthi Jayasekara noted that
Indo-Pacific region is widely perceived as the core framework of India’s
foreign policy, also considered as its extended Eastern neighbourhood. The
Indian foreign policy has become more muscular under PM Modi, she noted.
Ms Jayasekara
drew attention to India’s participation in multilateral forums in the
Indo-Pacific, and its build-up of relations with the US, Japan and Australia.
She however noted that such balancing initiatives are nonetheless of questionable
value due to fragmentation and absence of a consensus in these state’s strategy
and objectives vis a vis the rise of China.
Commenting on
the geopolitical significance of the region to India in terms of security,
economy and technology, she commended that how India has adopted a rational
approach to court all the regional states as means of counter-balancing the
rising China.