About the Book

The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative was launched in late 2019 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It proposes cooperation across seven maritime sectoral pillars – Ecology, Security, Resources, Capacity Building and Resource Sharing, Disasters, Technology, and Trade Connectivity. The proposal was well received despite the vast expanse of the Indo-Pacific, and numerous, and often divergent, interests of regional countries.

This book considers an integrated framework to unify the seven pillars and opportunities for implementation across each pillar of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. It makes specific recommendations under each pillar and identifies key drivers and mechanisms for integration. It is a novel outcome of an Australia-India academic collaboration, and a seminal contribution to implementing the Indo Pacific Oceans Initiative. We hope that students, academics, policy makers and anyone else with an interest in the region will find this book useful.

About Author

Prof Greg Rose is an expert in international marine environmental and security law at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia.

Prof Shaun Star is an expert on Australia-India relations at Jindal Global Law School and Executive Director of the Centre for India Australia Studies at O.P. Jindal Global University, India.

Prof Pankaj K. Jha was the founder of the Centre for Security Studies in the School of International Affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University and a specialist in Asia-Pacific security relations.

Dr Prakash Gopal is an international maritime security policy specialist at ANCORS with expertise in Indian Ocean naval relations and regional security issues.

Contents

Dedication to Pankaj K. Jha

1. Introduction and Recommendations to Implement the Seven IPOI Pillars 1

Greg Rose, Shaun Star and Prakash Gopal

Australian and Indian Perspectives

2. Development of an Indo-Pacific Framework Integrating the Seven IPOI Pillars: Perspective of the Australian High Commissioner to India/ 8

Barry O’Farrell

3. Development of an Indo-Pacific Framework Integrating the Seven IPOI Pillars: Perspective of the Indian High Commissioner to Australia/ 11

Manpreet Vohra

Pillar One: Maritime Ecology

4. Indian Ocean Marine Plastic Pollution: Sea-based Sources Reduction Measures /16

Greg Rose and Karen Raubenheimer

5. Implementation Plan for Reducing Sea-based Sources of Marine Plastic Debris in the Indian Ocean (2025-30) / 40

Greg Rose and Karen Raubenheimer

Pillar Two: Maritime Security

6. Shaping a Favourable and Positive Indo-Pacific Maritime Environment through Maritime Security Cooperative Mechanisms / 51

Sarabjeet S Parmar

7. Maritime Information Sharing in the Indo-Pacific / 64

Shishir Upadhyaya

8. Capacity Building for Maritime Security and Law Enforcement in the Indo-Pacific / 78

Prakash Gopal

Pillar Three: Maritime Resources

9. IUU Fishing and Transnational Organized Crimes in the Indo-Pacific: Indonesia and Regional Mechanisms / 96

Zaki Mubarok

10. Maritime Hazards of Deep-sea Mining / 110

Rahul Sharma

Pillar Four: Capacity Building and Resource Sharing

11. Toward a Shared Vision for Infrastructure and Connectivity in the Indo-Pacific / 124

Faisal Ahmed

12. India in the South Pacific: Capacity Building and Resource Sharing / 137

Saber Salem

Pillar Five: Disk Risk Reduction and Management

13. Enhancing Collective Disaster Response in the Indo-Pacific / 152

Lina Gong and S. Nanthini

14. Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in the Indo-Pacific Region / 164

Pankaj K Jha and Gitanjali Sinha Roy

Pillar Six: Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation

15 Indo-Pacific Coastal Reservoirs – A Freshwater Revolution / 176

Shu-Qing Yang and Muttucumaru Sivakumar

Pillar Seven: Trade, Connectivity and Maritime Transport

16. A Free and Open Indo-Pacific – A Japanese Perspective / 204

Akihiko Sunami

17. From Supply Chain Resilience to Protection of Trade: Assuring the Integrity of Maritime Commerce in a Parlous Strategic Era / 208

Chris Rahman

Conclusions

18. Advancing the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative: Towards an Integrated IPOI Framework / 224

Chris Rahman and Gregory Rose

Annexures

Annex A—Prime Minister Modi’s Speech at the East Asia Summit, 4 November 2019 / 236

Annex B—Joint Statement on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Republic of India and Australia, 04 June 2020 / 238

Annex C—Joint Declaration on a Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Between the Republic of India and the Government of Australia, 4 June 2020 / 245

Contributing Authors / 247

Index / 253

Additional Info.