In an apparent reference to China’s increasing military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in Thailand, that India envisages free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific built on rules-based order.Jaishankar made the comments while delivering a lecture on ‘India’s Vision of the Indo-Pacific’ at the prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
“We envisage a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region built on a rules-based international order, sustainable and transparent infrastructure investment, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, mutual respect for sovereignty, peaceful resolution of disputes, as well as equality of all nations,” he said.
The external affairs minister said that Quad is the most prominent plurilateral platform that addresses contemporary challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the Quad, is a strategic forum comprising India, the United States of America, Japan and Australia which advocates for a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Quad has strongly opposed any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo and increase tensions in the area.
Addressing the researchers, scholars, think-tanks and students Jaishankar said that India envisages the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be at the centre of the Indo-Pacific, adding that “Our ASEAN partners will surely note that our interactions with them have grown, not reduced, as a result of the Indo-Pacific.”
“We consider Indo-Pacific as a region that extends from the Eastern shores of Africa to the Western shores of America. This is an increasingly seamless space that is home to more than 64% of global population and which contributes over 60% of world’s GDP. About half of the global trade happens through the maritime trade routes in this region,” he said.
China is engaged in territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea.
Notably, India and China are engaged in a border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 2022. The two neighbouring countries have so far held 16 rounds of Corps Commander Level talks to resolve the border row.
