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OPINION SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 | The Indian Eye 11

New Guinea in 2023. Based on this and nature of this contestation. This
cooperation arrangement, the Unit- is evident from the growing footprint
ed States in April 2024 expressed of the United States and its open
its intention to renovate the existing invitation for its extra-regional part-
facilities and also construct a Re- ners, mainly from Europe, to join the
gional Maritime Training Centre in bandwagon.
Lombrum Naval Base in Papua New Given its escalatory impact, this
Guinea’s Los Negros Island, which is ad hoc approach also paves the way
located north of the Bismarck Sea. for a fourth implication. The geopo-
(See Map I) litical game of one-upmanship be-
On the contrary, the prospects tween China and the United States
of American presence in the Cocos will have profound implications for
(Keeling) merit greater scrutiny. For the traditional security guarantors in
one, this non-descript island sits at the region and sub-regions of the In-
the crossroads of the all-important do-Pacific theatre. The upshot of this
trans-Indian Ocean SLOCs and thus would be that the regional/sub-re-
acts as the gatekeeper of internation- gional order would undergo a further
al shipping and, subsequently, global change in its architecture. Against
trade and hence the global economy. this backdrop, the geographic loca-
Secondly, it is not only Cocos Island’s tion of the Cocos (Keeling) Island,
location that has geo-strategic signif- Papua New Guinea and Timor Les-
icance but also its proximity to an te are significant, as they are located
American military base, Camp Thun- along the periphery of the maritime
der Cove in Deigo Garcia, which is access points of Southeast Asia. This,
a part of the Chagos Archipelago in when taken along with the history of
the Indian Ocean region. (See Map close cooperation that the United
II) Map II: Cocos (Keeling) Island and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean Region. States enjoys with Southeast Asian
Given the ongoing dispute be- countries like the Philippines, Singa-
tween the United Kingdom and Source: globalsecurity.org pore and Thailand, the impact of the
Mauritius over the sovereignty of the PDI will be seen in both this sub-re-
Chagos Archipelago, Cocos Island military bases of the United States. lies and partners of the United States gion of the Indo-Pacific theatre and
becomes all the more important. On the contrary, both Lilly Pad and in the Indo-Pacific region. also on the internal dynamics within
This is so as this Australian islet can CSL share similar characteristics, as Sailing into Choppy Waters the Association of Southeast Asian
become an alternative for the Unit- they are small, well-dispersed for- Nations (ASEAN) to begin with.
ed States given that littoral countries ward facilities that are a part of a hile Washington has ar-
larger network of military positions
of the Indian Ocean, especially India and are widely spread around the W ticulated its ambitious Dr. Sripathi Narayanan is
“continues its consistent support to approach to the security, a Research Fellow at the Indian
Mauritius” on its claim over the dis- world. It is to be noted that cooper- stability and prosperity of the In- Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
puted archipelago. The Indian po- ative security locations are spread do-Pacific region, there will be un- Views expressed are personal.
sition on the Chagos dispute is not across the globe, including along the intended spinoffs that merit some
based on geopolitical consideration east coast of Africa, since the pri- appreciation. The first implication is
but is a reflection of New Delhi’s mary task of the CSL is to carry out that the Indo-Pacific region, which This article first appeared
principled “stand on decolonization counter-narcotics and counter-ter- is already a focal point of geopoliti- in the Viewpoint section of the website
and support for the sovereignty and rorism operations. cal contestation, could be the glob- (www.icwa.in) of Indian Council
territorial integrity of nations”. On the other hand, the lattice- al epicenter of global power play as of World Affairs, New Delhi, on
A New Security Paradigm work was first mentioned in the Washington is expanding the scope
“Indo-Pacific Strategy of the Unit-
hat also makes the Amer- ed States” released by the White
ican interests in Cocos House in February 2022, wherein it Mobile +91 99256 73021 (Office) +91 2634 285121 Email : [email protected]
W(Keeling) Island, Pap- has been stated that a “latticework
ua New Guinea and Timor Leste of strong and mutually reinforcing (Ô‰ıVÀ) 396321, ÷Î. √HÎÿı‰Ì, Ï…. fi‰ÁÎflÌ, √…flÎ÷
important rests with Washington’s coalitions” would be the framework ‰‘ ‹ÎÏË÷Ì ‹ÎÀı Á_’¿Û— ’˛‹¬ lÌ ‹Î‘‰·Î· ’fl˘ÏË÷ (‹ËΉÌfl T≤©Îl‹, ωl΋B≤Ë ±Î√‚, ⁄Ì·Ì‹˘flÎ
evolving global security architecture, under which Washington would be ’˛√ÀΉ˘. ±Î F›˘÷ «Î·_ »ı, Œ@÷ F›˘÷‹Î_ CÎÌ ¥…‰ÎfiÌ …wfl »ı. ¤Ò·˘ ¤·ı ⁄Ì…\ ⁄‘ _‹Î-⁄Î’fiı ¤·Â˘ fiÏË.
which has moved away from the hub approaching this region. By lean- ¤Î¥-⁄Ëıfi˘ ±Î’÷˘ ÿÎfi-’ÒH› …wfl ¿fl÷Î_ Ë¢. ‹ËΉÌfl T≤©Îl‹fiı ·Î_⁄˘ ËÎ◊ ¿flÌ ‹Îfi‰÷ÎfiÌ F›˘÷
and spoke doctrine that it had per- ing upon its allies and partners, the lÌ‹_÷, ‰ÎV÷, ’ÒH›◊ÌÏ÷ fi˘¿flÌ ‹‚‰‰ÎfiÌ ¬ÂÌ T≤©Îl‹‹Î_ ÷ÌÏ◊ ¤˘…fi ±Î’Ì Â¿Â˘. ωÿı‹Î_ flËı÷Î ‹ÎflÎ
suaded since the days of the Cold War United States would be pursuing a Áı‰Î¤Î‰Ì ¤Î¥-⁄Ëıfi˘, Á_√Ãfi˘, ‹ÏË·Î ‹_Õ‚ ›◊΄@÷ ŒÎ‚˘ ‹˘¿·Î‰Ì ¿ı »ı. ¤Ï‰W›fi_ ¤Î◊ …L‹Ïÿfi,
to a “Lilly Pads” or a “latticework” flexible and ad hoc approach to the ‹¿‰Îfi_ ±Î›˘…fi Âw ¿fl‰Î‹Î_ ±Î‰ı· »ı. ±Î_√‚Ì Ï«_K›Îfi_’ÒH› V‰ˆ„E»¿ Á_V◊α˘, Ï·Ï‹ÀıÕ ¿o’fi̱˘,
approach. evolving security architecture in the ¿ı »ı. ±ı¿ ‰Ê˝ ‹ÎÀı w. 20000, » ‹ÏËfiÎ ‹ÎÀı w. 10000 Á_V◊Îfiı FCRAfiÌ ‹_…^flÌ ‹‚ı· »ı. ÿÎ÷ÎlÌfiı flÁÌÿ
¥-‹ı¥· ‹ÎflŒ÷ı ‹˘¿·‰Î‹Î_ ±Î‰Âı. ¿˘fl˘fiÎ ¿Î‚‹Î_ V‰…fi˘ Q≤I› ’΋ı·Î ˢ› ÷ı‹fiÎ fi΋fiÌ fi΋Ή·Ì ÷¿÷Ì
The Lilly Pad is aimed at having Indo-Pacific Region, as the structure T≤©Îl‹‹Î_ ÿkο ›˘…fiÎ Âw ¿fl‰Î‹Î_ ±Î‰ı· »ı. ¿˘≥ ’HÎ Áı‰Î¤Î‰Ì ¤Î¥-⁄Ëıfi˘ ±Î ÿkο ›˘…fiÎfi˘ ·Î¤ ·≥
“flexible forward operating bases”, would not be American-centric but ’˛¤ ’˛Î◊˝fiÎ. ±Î Á_V◊Îfiı Ïÿ·ıfl ÿÎ÷ÎfiÌ ÷Î÷Ì …wfl »ı. e· fiËŸ ÷˘ e·fiÌ ’Î_¬ÕÌ w’ı ¤ıÀ ‹˘¿·Î‰Ì ¿˘ »˘.
which are “small, secretive, inaccessi- would also entail Washington’s allies ±‹ÎflÎ CÎHÎÎ-⁄‘Î ÿÎ÷Îḻ˘ V‰√˝‰ÎÁ ◊›Î ±ı‹fiÌ ±ÎI‹Îfiı ’fl‹¿Ú’΂ ’fl‹ÎI‹Î ¬Ò⁄ ¬Ò⁄ ÂÎ_Ï÷ ±Î’ı ÷ı‰Ì
ble facilities with limited numbers of and partners to “build connections ⁄ËıflÎ-‹_√α˘fiı ’˛‰ı ±Î’‰Î‹Î_ ±Î‰ı »ı. ±Î Á_V◊Î Ïÿ·ıfl ÿÎ÷α˘fiÎ ÁË›˘√◊Ì «Î·ı »ı. ¿˘fl˘fiο΂‹Î_
troops, spartan amenities, and prep- within and beyond the (Indo-Pacif- √Ωfl÷Πˢ› ÷ı‰Î ÏfiflΑÎfl …ı‹fiÌ ¿˘≥ ÁÎflÁ_¤Î‚ flάfiÎfl fi ˢ›, ÏfiflΑÎfl ω‘‰Î ⁄Ëıfi˘, ±_‘-±’_√,
ositioned weaponry and supplies.” ic) region”. This would also include fiÌ« ‘‹˝ ¿ı ¤ıÿ¤Î‰ ÏÁ‰Î› ’˛‰ı ±Î’‰Î‹Î_ ±Î‰ı »ı. µ’fl ±Î¿Î ˢ› fiÌ«ı ‘fl÷Ì‹Î÷ÎfiÎ ÁËÎflı ∞‰fi
The Lilly Pad is similar to the “co- “finding new opportunities to link ‹ËΉÌfl ¿S›ÎHÎ ±fiı ω¿ÎÁ ÀˇVÀ ‹ËΉÌfl T≤©Îl‹fiÌ Áı‰Î ¿Î›˝fl÷ »ı. ±Î T≤©Îl‹‹Î_ fiÎ÷-Ω÷, µE«-
defense industrial bases, integrating
arrangement, as both have a low pro- of defense supply chains, and co-pro-
file when compared to the traditional ducing key technologies” between al-

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operative security locations” or CSL ÉÝ ÉÝ lí ßëÜ