இந்தியப் பெருங்கடல் இந்தியாவின் ஆதிக்கத்தை
எதிர்த்து சென்றுவிடுமோ என்ற ஐயப்பாடு அனைவருக்கும் எழுந்துள்ளது. இதைக் குறித்து பல
பதிவுகள் செய்துள்ளேன். டீகோ கார்சியாவில் அமெரிக்கா இராணுவத் தளத்தை அமைக்கிறது. பிரான்ஸ்,
பிரிட்டனுடைய ஆதிக்கமும் பெருகி வருகிறது. இதனிடையே சீனா தனது வணிக பணிகளுக்காகவும்,
ஏனைய கமுக்கமான நோக்கங்களுக்காக சில்க் சாலைகளை அமைத்து வருகிறது. சீனாவின் நீர்மூழ்கி
கப்பலும் போர்க் கப்பலும் கொழும்புத் துறைமுகம் அருகே நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. இலங்கையின்
ஹம்பன்தோட்டா துறைமுகத்தினை 99 ஆண்டு குத்தகைக்கு சீனாவுக்கு விடப்பட்டது. திருகோணமலையில்
உள்ள இயற்கைத் துறைமுகத்தை இந்தியா குத்தகைக்கு எடுத்தாலும் அங்கு சீனா, அமெரிக்காவின்
ஆதிக்கம் உள்ளார்ந்த நிலையில் உள்ளன. இது குறித்து பயோனிர் ஆங்கில ஏட்டில் தீக்சா கோயல்
எழுதிய பத்தியில் சில புதிய விவரங்களும் அடங்கியுள்ளன.
ADDING NEW DIMENSIONS
TO THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s good that the
Eastern powers are uniting to project leadership in the Indian Ocean region.
However, bottlenecks are not in availability of resources but in the
formulations of policies
An ocean which is
geologically the youngest and physically one of the most complex regions of the
world governs the lives of almost 45 per cent of world’s population. Waters of
this ocean carry half of the world’s container ships, one-third of the world’s
cargo traffic and two-third of the world’s oil shipments. In addition, 80 per
cent of the world’s container traffic has to transit through this ocean to
reach its destination, thus, making Indian Ocean the lifeline of world’s trade
and economy from time immemorial.
It is to reignite the
spirit of a common Indian Ocean identity that India Foundation along with its
partners initiated — the Indian Ocean Conference. The first edition of the
conference was held in Singapore along with partners from Singapore and
Bangladesh and was themed around ‘culture, commerce and comity’ in the region.
Taking the cue further, the second Indian Ocean Conference was organised from
August 31-September 1 in Colombo along with partners from Singapore and Sri
Lanka. This year the theme of the conference was ‘peace, progress and
prosperity’.
Peace: While
conflicts and rivalries were not new to the region after the exit of the
colonial powers, there was a need to declare these waters safe to keep the
inter and intra regional trade going. It was in 1971 on the resolution put
forward by the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Sirimavo Bandaranaike, that the
26th session of the United Nations
General Assembly adopted a resolution to declare the Indian Ocean as a ‘zone of
peace’.
Today, the Gulf is
currently the area that poses the highest risk of a serious military conflict.
In South Asia, the conflict in Afghanistan, the multiple conflicts within
Pakistan and India’s rise and growing influence within the region point to
renewed sources of friction between India and Pakistan and between India and
China. While neither of these is likely to spiral towards a nuclear war, the
broad regional competition for influence between Iran and the Arab states, the
risk of asymmetric war in the Gulf, a major conventional arms race, and Iran’s
build-up of major ballistic missile forces remains a source of concern.
Terrorism and sea
piracy are still a threat to the region and need immediate attention.
Increasing presence of foreign powers in the waters of the region also pose a
major threat to the peace and stability of the littoral nations. Towards this
end, deliberations were held on freedom of navigation and over-flight,
cooperation in anti-piracy and counter-terrorism operations and
deradicalisation and capacity building.
Progress: The Indian
Ocean region covers three continents and thus, is the habitat to people of
multiple cultures, traditions and identities. Confluence and convergence of
these traditions and practices is vital for the progress of the region. In
ancient times, the ocean was also referred to as the free sea by the
inhabitants of the region owing it to the free movement of people and culture
across the waters of the ocean.
Traces of these links
of common historical legacy are also visible in the architecture of the coastal
towns and cities of the littoral nations. Examples of racial integration are
also widespread across the region. Zanzibar Island, on the eastern coast of
Africa, though ruled by two generations of Omani rulers followed by the Arabs
has imprints of Indian architecture. A most typical example of this are the
Indian styled hanging balconies that are attached to almost every house in the
island nation.
Greater emphasis
needs to be laid on replenishing the people-to-people ties amongst the populace
of the countries of the region. This can be done by encouraging youth exchange
programmes, academic sojourns and cultural expeditions. A new impetus to
people-to-people ties will not only open the channels of track II diplomacy but
will also renew the common historical linkages of the region.
There are numerous
groupings in the region which engage with the other countries on various
bilateral and multilateral platforms in areas of security, strategy, trade,
commerce and culture. However, what is needed today is a common platform to
bring all the voices together and put up an Indian Ocean multilateral forum to
build up on the common identity and shared past. The institution will function
as a platform for the nations to come together and voice their concerns
pertaining to the challenges faced by the region at large and create new
opportunities for a brighter future for the larger populace.
Moving from
people-to-people, there also needs to be greater engagement on a Government to
Government level. It is important for the countries of the region to establish
amongst themselves an ‘Indian Ocean Parliament’, on the terms of the European
Parliament to exchange good governance practices. The Parliament would be one
which would provide political leadership and not get hurdled by bureaucratic
issues. At a younger level, there could also be a parallel youth parliamentary
forum to identify and edify the youth leaders from amongst the masses.
Prosperity: The
region built around the third largest of the oceans of the world accounts for
only 30 per cent of the global intra-regional trade, though 80 per cent of the
world’s shipments transit through its waters. There has been a slight increase
in the trade volume from $400 billion in 2005 to one trillion dollars in 2014;
however, it is still poor by global standards.
The Strait of Hormuz
on the West, and Strait of Malacca on the East are the two major economic choke
points of the ocean. While Hormuz carries 15.5 million barrels of oil through
it each day, Malacca is the world’s second busiest lane, carrying 80 per cent
of Japan’s and 60 per cent of China’s oil supplies. An estimated $70 billion
worth of oil passes through the straits each year.
The region has
abundance of raw materials, including oils and hydrocarbons which are vital for
the development of major manufacturing industries. Malaysia and Indonesia are
the leading producers of natural rubber in the world. Reasonably, large
deposits of manganese, which also contain nickel, cobalt, copper and iron, have
also been found in the Eastern part of the Indian Ocean, off the coast of
India, Mauritius and Madagascar.
Apart from that, an
interesting trend has also been observed in the beds of this ocean that there
has been no decline in the fish stock of the region over a consistent period of
time indicating the underutilisation of the resources available, at a time when
the other water bodies are facing extreme scarcity.
Clearly, the
bottlenecks are not in the availability of resources but in the formulations of
the policies concerned with the region. To harness the potential of the
available resources, it is vital for the stakeholders to come together and
deliberate on the idea of having free market, free trade, better connectivity
and policies to encourage economic growth and integration, in turn encouraging
economic prosperity amongst the littoral and non-littoral nations of the
region.
Thus, the Indian
peninsula, which is just 1,980 kms into the Indian Ocean with 50 per cent of
the ocean basin lying within a 1,500 km radius of India, is now staking its
claim on the region. Alfred Thayer Mahan
once quoted, “Whoever attains control of the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia”
and it is to this end that the Eastern powers are uniting to project leadership
in a region which is truly theirs.
(The writer is,
Senior Research Fellow at India Foundation)
#இந்தியப்_பெருங்கடல்
#Indian_Ocean
#KSRadhakrishnanPostings
#KSRPostings
கே.எஸ்.இராதாகிருஷ்ணன்
30-01-2018
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