"One's threat today may be another's tomorrow": India seeks to rally Indian Ocean Region countries

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, in an apparent reference to the disputed SouthChina Sea, said conflicting claims in some maritime areas haveseen negative impact, amid continued border standoff with china.

Maritime resources will be key to sustained growthand development of nations across the Indian Ocean Region(IOR) in the ongoing century, he said delivering his keynoteaddress at the IOR Defence Ministers' Conclave held on themargins of Aero India-2021, India's premier defence andaerospace show.

''We have already seen the negative impact ofconflicting claims in some maritime areas of the world.Wemust, therefore, ensure that the maritime expanse of theIndian Ocean is peaceful and is optimally harnessed for thebenefit of all nations in the region,'' the Minister said.

China and India are locked in a military standoff ineastern Ladakh since May 5 last.

The two countries have held several rounds ofmilitary and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but nosignificant headway has been made so far.

The United States and China are currently engaged ina bitter confrontation over various issues, including theaggressive military moves in the disputed South China Sea.

In his address, Singh said IOR countries havetogether demonstrated their mutual respect for a rules basedorder, setting an example of how abiding with internationallaw will enable harnessing the global commons for the good ofall.

He said the conclave is an initiative to promotedialogue in an institutional and cooperative environment thatcan foster the development of peace, stability and prosperityin the IOR.

India being the largest country and having a vastcoastline of 7500 Km in the IOR region, has to play an activerole for peaceful and prosperous co-existence of all IORcountries, he said.

''We all have a shared asset, that is, the IndianOcean,'' Singh said.

''It is an important lifeline to international tradeand transport as it commands control of major sea-lanescarrying half of the worlds container ships, one third of theworlds bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of the worlds oilshipments.'' The present maritime security scenario in IOR isposing a number of challenges such as piracy, smuggling ofdrugs/people and arms, humanitarian and disaster relief, andSearch & Rescue (SAR).

Maritime collaboration and co-operation among IORcountries can help meet these challenges effectively andefficiently and ensure peace and stability in the region.

''We, therefore, have to join hands in looking atthese threats in unison, because ones threat today may beanothers tomorrow,'' he said.

''In order to synergise efforts of all IOR countriesto ensure safety and security in this region, it is high timethat we take our economy, trade, naval cooperation andcollaboration to the higher level,'' Singh added.

According to an official statement, DefenceMinisters, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and seniorofficials from 27 of 28 countries from the region attended theevent physically or in virtual mode.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)