Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence summit that draws Defence Ministers from Asia-Pacific region, featured keynote address by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday June 1, 2018 in Singapore, attended by 600 delegates: defence officials and academics from 43 countries including US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. Modi outlined Indo-Pacific Vision as a free, open, and inclusive region, not directed against any country, with Southeast Asia at its center and a space that requires a common rules-based order that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as equality of all nations. He urged member countries in the region to unite against protectionism and cross-border tensions, including those in international waters, for the prosperity of all, underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and connectivity. Modi said, “We see growing mutual insecurity and rising military expenditure, internal dislocations turning into external tensions, and new fault lines in trade and competition in the global commerce”. “We are being called to rise above divisions and competition to work together.”
Modi said that the future resides in the East and the region can be shaped with collective hope. He said that Singapore is an example of great excellence, “When rule prevails and oceans are open, nations prosper and Singapore is an example of it”.
Shangri-La Dialogue is organised annually by London-based think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and gets its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where it has been held since 2002. The summit serves to cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security community in the region.
India in the recent past has increased its engagement with the ASEAN region, joined the Quadrilateral grouping with the U.S., Japan and Australia for the Indo-Pacific, as well as reached out to China and Russia. India joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as full members on June 9, 2017 at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan and will participate in SCO summit during June 9-10, 2018 when the heads of state of SCO gather in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province to mark the group’s 18th anniversary. India’s growing partnership with Africa, its participation in regional institutions, and its ties both throughout the Indo-Pacific and with the world’s major powers, points to how India sees itself as both a bridge across the region, and a point of connection, a node, for interaction in the Indo-Pacific.
Prime Minister Narendra in the keynote address at the 17th Shangri-La Dialogue highlighted strengthened bilateral ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Russia, the United States and China. Modi in an apparent desire to position India as a champion of the liberal international order, in his keynote address, drawing an equivalence in ties with Russia, the U.S. and China asserted that India’s principle of Strategic Autonomy remains strong; cautioning against a “return to the age of great power rivalries”. His address amplified the central and ongoing themes of India’s role on the world stage:
- India’s focus on its own long civilizational history of international engagement and raising global awareness of that history;
- India’s sense of itself as playing a linking role for the larger Indo-Pacific space; and
- India’s commitment to principles, rule of law, and a theory of equality for nations as part of its general commitment to the liberal international order.
Modi emphasized India’s Act East policy of stepped-up activity with the ASEAN region, and highlighted India’s work with the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, Indian Ocean Rim Association and regional organizations in which India participates, such as:
- East Asia Summit
- ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting plus countries outside of ASEAN
- ASEAN Regional Forum
- Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical & Economic Cooperation
- Mekong-Ganga Economic Corridor
Modi felt an Asia of rivalry will hold the region back while an Asia of cooperation will shape the current century and apprised the dialogue’s delegates, “In April, a two-day informal summit with President Xi helped us cement our understanding that: strong and stable relations between our two nations are an important factor for global peace and progress” and said both India and China have displayed “maturity and wisdom” in managing issues and ensuring a peaceful border, adding that cooperation between the world’s two populous countries was expanding. Modi further added, “I firmly believe that Asia and the world will have a better future when India and China work together in trust and confidence, sensitive to each other’s interests.” “No other relationship of India has as many layers as our relations with China. We are the world’s two most populous countries and among the fastest growing major economies. Our cooperation is expanding”. Lieutenant General He Li, who led the Chinese delegation at the Shangri-La Dialogue, praised Modi’s remarks as a friendly and positive gesture.
On competition among leading powers, Modi said it is normal but noted that contests must not turn into conflict and differences must not be allowed to become disputes.