Securing Sealanes Vital for India's Maritime Trade: Antony

New Delhi, Feb 10 (UNI) India today reiterated its commitment to protecting the vital Malacca Straits --the most critical global sea-route for maritime trade-- through which more than half of Indian merchandise trade is carried.

India is both willing and capable to assist the littoral states in ensuring the safety and security of the Malacca Straits, rendered highly insecure due to piracy, in any manner acceptable to them, Defence Minister A K Antony told an Asian security conference here.

''Low-intensity threats like sea piracy pose a direct challenge to the security of sea-lines of communication (SLOCs). There is also widespread fear that with the nautical expertise acquired from pirates, terrorists may strike in the Malacca Straits. This would spell disaster for the global economy. With more than half of India's merchandise trade sailing eastwards, this vital sea-passage assumes critical importance for India as well.'' Mr Antony pointed out that India's trade with ASEAN in 1990 --a mere 2.4 billion US dollars-- had grown ten-fold to 23 billion US dollars by 2005 and was expected to cross 30 billion US dollars this year.

''A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is also likely by the middle of this year. Besides trade, our countries are also seeking to benefit through people-to-people contacts and cooperation in areas like agriculture, technology and energy.'' The Defence Minister was delivering the Valedictory Address to the Ninth Asian Security Conference ''on evolving security dynamics in Southeast Asia'' organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), India's premier think tank on security issues.

The two-day meet, with over 30 experts from 17 countries participating, was inaugurated yesterday by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Minister Antony said India's relations with its extended neighbourhood had received a fillip with the formulation of its 'Look East' policy in the early 1990s.

''Forging comprehensive and mutually beneficial bonds with South-East Asia has been the cornerstone of this policy. Today, this region comprises the most dynamic and progressive economies and its close interaction with India is amply reflected in the ASEAN-India summit at Cebu (The Philippines) last month.'' Economic progress and social development, the Defence Minister observed, would need a conducive environment for growth, particularly in terms of regional stability and security.

''Over the last few years, the region as a whole has witnessed a steady realignment of geo-strategic equations. Along with these changes the accentuation of geo-political fault-lines has severe security ramifications for the region in general, and for the South-East Asian states in particular.'' The key challenge for the regional states, the Minister said, lay in building effective multilateral institutions based on a set of common values to achieve common goals based on respective political, economic and strategic interests.

''The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has emerged as a useful platform for security dialogues involving all regional states. It needs to be appropriately strengthened and reoriented to cater to the dynamics of regional security.'' Cooperative mechanisms would, however, need to incorporate transparency in intentions and response and a visible respect for the religious and cultural diversities of states, Minister Antony pointed out.

UNI