Page 11 - The Indian EYE 122322

OPINION DECEMBER 23, 2022 | The Indian Eye 11

to comprehensively address the com- ing cooperation between India and
plex regional security challenges that ASEAN in envisaging a sustained and
arise from a combination of both tra- comprehensive approach to counter
ditional and non-traditional threats. new-age terrorism.
One such issue is the problem of Advocating for a Free and Open
Illegal, Unregulated and Unreport- Indo-Pacific: India has repeatedly
ed (IUU) fishing which is bound to advocated for a free and open In-
overlap with the issue of contested do-Pacific across various multilateral
maritime boundaries in the SCS re- forums. India is amongst the several
gion. This complex nexus between Indo-Pacific Nations that have re-
traditional and non-traditional secu- peatedly expressed concern over the
rity issues has been undermining the threats to FoN and Overflight by Chi-
consensus among the ADMM-Plus na in contested regions like SCS.
members in envisaging long-term All the recent joint statements
solutions to persistent regional secu- issued by ADMM-Plus have unequiv-
rity challenges. ocally called for protecting FoN and
This undermining factor mani- Overflight in the region. Through this
fested during the Third ADMM-Plus forum, India can play a constructive
meeting which was convened in Kuala role in the establishment of PD mech-
Lumpur on 4 November 2015. A dis- French Navy ships Assault helicopter carrier Tonnerre and Surcouf frigate arrive at Kochi port anisms necessary for promoting a free
cord between the members regarding ahead of France-led ‘La Pérouse’ joint exercise with QUAD members in Kochi (ANI Photo) and open Indo-Pacific
the SCS dispute sufficed and this pre- Enhancing the level of Interop-
vented the members from arriving at erability between India and ASEAN
a consensus regarding the issuance of militaries: A day before the Ninth
a joint statement. The meeting hap- ADMM-Plus meeting, the India–
pened just a week after US warships ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting
carried out a Freedom of Navigation was convened on 22 November 2022.
(FoN) patrol around China’s artifi- Here, Raksha Mantri called for fur-
cially constructed islands in the Sprat- ther expanding the scope and depth
ly archipelago. of India–ASEAN defense relations
Comprehensive Strategic Part- through military-centric initiatives. To
nership can be interpreted as the this end, ADMM-Plus is an import-
pursuit of cooperation across a multi- ant avenue for promoting collabora-
tude of areas encompassing political, tion and enhancing interoperability
economic, social, cultural and military between Indian and ASEAN militar-
collaborations. With the elevation of ies in countering a range of security
India–ASEAN relations to the level challenges in the Indo-Pacific that are
of Comprehensive Strategic Part- covered through the EWGs.
nership, it is imperative that defense US President Joe Biden attends the first Quad Summit virtually with Prime Minister Narendra For India, the ADMM-Plus is
cooperation become an intrinsic ele- Modi, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Australian PM Scott Morrison, in Washington DC last very important considering India’s en-
ment of this partnership. Under the year (ANI Photo/ Joe Biden Twitter) deavors to increase its strategic depth
‘Act East’ policy, India has been hav- with the ASEAN nations through the
ing robust defense cooperation with ‘Act East’ policy. India’s proactive
individual ASEAN nations at the bi- 2014 to 2017. During this time, India the forum will play an instrumental participation in ADMM-Plus in the
lateral level. The need for multilateral conducted a large-scale FTE called role in enhancing the strategic depth past and the prospects of future col-
initiatives for building trust and con- Force 18 on HMA and PKO on its between India and ASEAN in the fol- laboration have clearly illustrated that
fidence in the Indo-Pacific, though, is soil involving all the nations of the lowing areas: the forum will be a key driver of the
very important. ADMM-Plus in March 2016. The Countering New-Age Terror- comprehensive strategic partnership
Taking into context the evolving knowledge gained through this exer- ism: In his address at the Ninth AD- between India and ASEAN.
dynamics of power rivalries in the In- cise was instrumental in enhancing MM-Plus meeting, the RM reiterated Dr R. Vignesh is Research Analyst at
do-Pacific and their impact on India’s the capabilities of ASEAN’s Region- the need for urgent and resolute glob- the Manohar Parrikar Institute for De-
national interests, the 2010–11 Annual al Mine Action Centre (ARMAC) in al efforts for countering terrorism. fense Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA),
Report of the Ministry of Defense de- Cambodia. He also underscored the need for New Delhi
scribes ADMM-Plus as an effort to es- India went on to co-chair the ADMM-Plus nations to collaborate
tablish an open and inclusive security third cycle of EWG on MM with on countering and degrading the abil- Cmde Abhay Kumar Singh (Retd) is
architecture in the region. The report Myanmar between 2017 and 2020. As ity of terrorist organizations to utilize Research Fellow at the Manohar Par-
further describes India’s involvement part of this, the Indian Army Medical new-age technologies. He was refer- rikar Institute for Defense Studies and
in the ADMM-Plus as a vital compo- Corps conducted the first-ever stand- ring to the use of cyberspace and oth- Analyses, New Delhi
nent of its larger effort for building alone FTE on MM under the AD- er niche technologies like drones by Views expressed are of the author and
a progressive and multifaceted part- MM-Plus umbrella in March 2019 in terrorist organizations for sustaining do not necessarily reflect the views of
nership with the ASEAN nations. Lucknow. Currently, India is co-chair- their activities. It must be noted that the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
Since the establishment of AD- ing the EWG on HADR with Indone- the fourth Joint Statement of AD-
MM-Plus, India has played a leading sia. The series of activities under this MM-Plus released in 2018 was the- Government of India.
role in its initiatives by employing its EWG started in 2020 and will com- matically dedicated to countering the This article first appeared in the
military assets and expertise in various plete in 2024. Through the analysis various facets of new-age terrorism, Comments section of the website (www.
FTE and TTX across all the EWGs. of the joint statement and the RM’s including the degradation of terror fi- idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
India co-chaired the first cycle of the statement in the latest iteration of the nancing. Hence, the ADMM-Plus will for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
EWG on HMA with Vietnam from ADMM-Plus, it can be inferred that be playing a critical role in enhanc- Delhi on December 15, 2022

www.TheIndianEYE.com