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Report: Australia should develop Indian Ocean strategy

FORUM Staff

A new report says that Australia can no longer regard itself as a mostly Pacific Ocean nation and must begin developing security measures for the Indian Ocean.

Security specialist David Brewster wrote the report, “Australia’s Second Sea: Facing Our Multipolar Future in the Indian Ocean,” for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in March 2019. Brewster said Australia is evolving into a “contested strategic space.”

More than half of Australia’s 25,760 kilometers of coastline lies on the Indian Ocean. Nonetheless, Brewster said, the country has long regarded itself as principally a Pacific Ocean nation, reflecting the country’s history and demographics.

“Indeed, most Australians have probably only seen the Indian Ocean out of the window of a plane en route to a holiday in Bali or Europe,” he said.

For more than a century, the report says, Australia has mostly relied on its powerful allies, particularly the United States, for security in the Indian Ocean. Now, after years of U.S. dominance in the region, India and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have begun asserting themselves. If the U.S. were to significantly reduce its military commitment, it could quickly destabilize the region.

Other observers agree. Shishir Upadhyaya, writing for The Diplomat, an online news magazine, said that for some time, Australia has “nursed ambitions to play a larger security role in the Indian Ocean region.” For about a decade, he said, Australia has “pursued its political and strategic relations with India as a matter of national priority.”

A 2018 report commissioned by Australia’s prime minister noted that both India and Australia were concerned about the U.S. receding from the region, and both countries were concerned about the PRC’s ambitions. That report said the two countries supported a rules-based international order.

Almost a decade ago, researchers noted that, unlike other regions, Australia had never developed a complete strategic, security and economic policy for the Indian Ocean. Brewster noted that there has been “little progress since that time.”

Brewster is recommending a six-point plan to address the country’s shortcomings in Indian Ocean policy. The first step would be to develop a plan to manage risks and look for economic opportunities.

Next, he said, the country must respond to the changing balance of power in the region and continue to regard India as a key partner. Australia should consider partnering with other Indo-Pacific countries, such as Indonesia and Singapore, in developing security relationships. He added that Australia should make itself clear about the role it sees for the PRC in the region in the future.

The report also recommends that Australia aggressively pursue economic opportunities in South Asia. He urged the country to develop a plan for economic engagement with Sri Lanka.

Brewster recommends that Australia build a detailed plan that assesses the country’s strengths and weaknesses in “the blue economy” and assesses its opportunities and risks in that arena. Specifically, he said, Australia should develop the coastal city of Perth as the Indian Ocean’s “leading science of knowledge hub.” (Pictured: A joint task force consisting of four ships, maritime patrol aircraft and more than 1,000 personnel from the Australian Defence Force are participating in Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019, a series of key engagement activities with Australia’s regional neighbors.)

Australia, Brewster added, should continue to support the work of the Indian Ocean Rim Association. The group brings together representatives from government, the private sector and academics to promote cooperation among the coastal nations bordering the Indian Ocean. The group, he said, should ask its dialogue partners, such as France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and United States, to take a more active role.

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