Proactive Asian Security

This news article from Monday is a geopolitical shock wave in Asia, perhaps one of the more interesting and long term important developments involving the security arrangements in Asia in some time.

India and Japan "expressed their commitment to contribute to bilateral and regional cooperation," according to the Defence Ministry's official release, issued at the end of the Tokyo meeting between visiting Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony and his Japanese counterpart, Toshimi Kitazawa.

Japan and India will boost their mutual efforts in peacekeeping and disaster relief, the release said, as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum, which fosters constructive regional dialogue.

"The two countries also recognized their mutual interest in the safety of sea lanes of communications and welcomed recent reinforcement of cooperation in the field of maritime security between the two defense authorities, as well as the inauguration of the Japan-India Maritime Security Dialogue, which was held in India last month," the release said.

This is an interesting development as it points to how Asian powers are viewing balance of power. India looks at Pakistan and China, then discovers Japan. Japan sees China, and discovers India. The maritime relationships between Japan and India have been developing over time, and this is a natural next step. As a point, this is an example where maritime relationships expand cooperation.

Obviously we are talking about baby steps, but forward movement is still forward movement. This is very much in line with what Robert Kaplan at CNAS has discussed as it relates to the US Navy as a balancing force between emerging regional powers in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The activity in China to develop pipelines in Burma and Turkmenistan are directly related to energy security, not economics. With the largest Navy in the Pacific Ocean (Japan) now cooperating with the largest Navy in the Indian Ocean (India), both of which are economic competitors of China, one can see why the investment in land pipelines is very much in the interest of China even as it costs a hell of a lot more than moving energy by sea.

A final point. This is also a sign that the Asian economic powers are taking their security into their own hands. There are no signs of US fingerprints here, even as we would very much like to have a seat at the table. It is not inaccurate to note however that 3 decades of stability and cooperation in Asia that the US has helped maintain is a contributing factor to this development. As nations rise economically, this is a natural side effect.