US Indo-Pacific strategy & NE

Context: Northeast India must adopt sustainable development
policies and leverage its unique strengths in biodiversity, ecotourism and cultural
heritage to overcome dependency and integrate into global trade and regional
strategies. For decades we have discussed the Look East Policy turned Act East Policy
as if it’s a survival kit for a land-locked Northeast. The people of the
Northeast are major stakeholders, and still they were never consulted while this
policy was framed. It emerged from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and
is usually discussed among MEA mandarins. The latest round of discussions was
organised at Shillong by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with
the US Consulate, Kolkata, on November 26.

Key points

·      
New
Indo-Pacific Strategy: The US is
banding together with nations like India, Australia, Japan and South Korea to
ensure that the sovereignty of Indo-Pacific nations is protected. The United
States has bolstered its military presence in the South China Sea and has put
nations around the world on notice that the sale of key infrastructure and
technology companies to China threatens their national security.

·      
Cultural
dimension to Indo-Pacific: Geo-cultural
dimension - At Kolkata, intellectuals and performers in the cultural domain
from India, the U.S., Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh reflected on
the Indo-Pacific construct’s cultural dimensions. Moving beyond geopolitics and
geo-economics, neighbors should focus on “the geo-cultural dimension” of the
Indo-Pacific.

Expanding people to people cooperation - Diplomats from the region agree on the importance of
expanded people-related cooperation which would lead to wider acceptance of the
Indo-Pacific and consolidation of the Quad.

·      
India’s
Role in the Indo Pacific Region: India has been one of the major players in the region. India conducts
many naval exercises with the United States, countries of ASEAN, Japan, Korea
and Vietnam. Last time in 2015, with the United States, India issued a
strategic vision for the Indian ocean and the Pacific, in which maintaining the
security in the South China Sea, was also mentioned. ONGC Videsh Ltd is
prospecting for oil and gas in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam. India
imports 82% of its oil. It needs oil from wherever it can get. Therefore,
explorations at the South China Sea are very important for it. The
international community including India wants freedom of navigation, freedom of
over flights in the region, especially the South China Sea.

·      
India’s Act
East Policy (AEP): India
launched India’s ‘Act East’ policy in 2014. The policy which was originally
conceived as an economic initiative, has gained political, strategic and
cultural dimensions.

·      
Importance
of North-East: Security
of India - The Northeast which comprises seven ‘sisters’ or States and one
‘brother’, Sikkim, has been witnessing transformation as it heads towards
better security conditions and development

Geography and Biodiversity - North-eastern Indian States are blessed with a wide
range of physiographic and ecoclimatic conditions and the geographical
‘gateway’ for much of India’s endemic flora and fauna.