Rebalancing Asia: The Belt And Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Strategy
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Event Report
The Nepal Institute of International Cooperation and Engagement [NIICE] organized a book discussion on ‘Rebalancing Asia: The Belt and Road Initiative and the Indo-Pacific Strategy’. The said book contains 18 chapters authored by 25 scholars from 15 countries and is jointly edited by Dr. Promod Jaiswal, Research Director at the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, and Dr. Deepak Prakash Bhatt, a Visiting Faculty at several Universities in Nepal. The book was supposed to be released in July 2020, but due to the unfortunate and unexpected hit of a black-swan event like the Covid-19 pandemic, the plans were delayed. Finally, the book was published by Springer’s Publishing Company Singapore and was released in September last year. Dr. Jaiswal, the editor of the book laid impetus on the fact that this book could serve as a seminal work for anyone who is interested in understanding foreign policy and Indo-Pacific Strategy. “Our prime objective was to initiate an academic discourse about several emerging geopolitical issues that are significant from the lens of international relations, and it gives me immense pleasure to say that we have been successful in achieving the desired objective through this book”., he added in his inaugural address.
Followed by the delivery of the inaugural address, Prof. Tomohiko TANIGUCHI, a widely acclaimed scholar, academician, and former Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, shared his learnings and observations from the book. In his 15 minutes address, he structured his thought, broadly into 3 key fragments-
He began by describing The Belt and Road Initiative [BRI] and the Indo-Pacific strategy as a regional competition between two concepts. “It’s a power tussle between regimes, with an autocratic dictatorship on one side of the house and a democracy on the other,” said the former Princeton Fellow. Next, he defined, he said competition, as a contest for power between two geographical areas., as the BRI will be conducted over the land, while the Indo-Pacific Strategy would function totally on the seas. The scholar’s third and final observation underlined that the nature of BRI is hierarchical and China-centric, whereas that of the Indo-Pacific is horizontal and based on peer-to-peer cooperation.
The floor was then taken over by Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan, Director General of the National Maritime Foundation and a much sought-after thought-leader, leadership mentor, and outstanding orator. His remarks fairly echoed Professor Taniguchi’s, but he distinctly went on to amplify the strategic differences in the approach of China and the combined approach of the United States, India, Japan, and Australia towards the Mega Connectivity endeavors. According to Gen. Chauhan, China, unlike the other powers in the Indo-Pacific Strategy, follows the Top-Down Mechanism, which benefits China at the expense of the regionally sensitive approach and prosperity of other nations. Building on his arguments further, the Vice-Admiral said that the Indo- Pacific Oceans Initiative or [IPOI] unlike BRI promotes inclusivity. “India’s policy or doctrine of maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) is a case in point, in this regard’’ he added.
Mr. Zhang Jiadong Ph.D. a Researcher at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, was the next Guest Speaker at the event. He presented some great insights into the dynamics of BRI in China. Mr. Jiadong highlighted that BRI is not a corridor but a corporation at its core. And that the achievements of this corporation are overtly exaggerated in China and worldwide. Further, the scholar talked about the greatest misconception that people, in general, have about the BRI. “No country in the world can promise such massive infrastructure development in developing countries, so it is critical to understand and debunk all of the myths and misconceptions at this point that claim BRI is solely owned by China and the Chinese”., he added.
Dr. Amit Gupta an Associate professor in the Department of International Security Studies at the USAF Air War College joined in from Alabama for the session. In his remarks, Dr. Gupta stated that whether we like it or not but BRI is currently attracting a lot of potential investors across the globe. And, it’s not possible in this day and stage to roll back this economic juggernaut. Hence, the world has a choice to either cooperate with BRI, compete with it, or engage in a conflict with China. Another option for the world to ensure economic integration could be to develop regional alternatives, such as a Western alternative, an Indian alternative, or a Japanese alternative to counter the Chinese initiative, he added.
Following a keynote address by each of the distinguished panel’s guest speakers, the contributors were given the opportunity to share their book-related experiences, understandings, and contributions. Dr. Deepak Prakash Bhatt, Founding Chairperson of Nepal Center for Security Governance, a Visting Fellow at numerous universities in Nepal, and the co-editor of this book, ‘Rebalancing Asia- Belt and Road Initiative and the Indo-Pacific Strategy’, provided a succinct description of what the book deals with. In his brief address, the editor also traced the history of ‘Balancing’ Asia from the days when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked about the Confluence of Seas in 2007 and when China launched the One Belt One Road Initiative in 2013, to the present context where security dynamics have changed with the arrival of alliances like AUKUS and QUAD, to the point that we are talking about ‘Rebalancing’ Asia.
Mr. Behzad Abdollahpur, a chief contributor and postgraduate student at Renmin University China, then went ahead and summarised his entry. Mr. Behzad stated in his 10-minute keynote that, in his entry, he has explored the perspectives of both the Chinese and American sides on the issue of BRI and the Indo-Pacific Strategy. That apart, he indicated that he has also tried to address some of the critical challenges that could jeopardize the implementation of BRI and the Indo-Pacific Strategy in the Indio-Pacific. Followed by Mr. Abdollahpor’s address, Mr. Asantha Senevirathra from Kotelawala Defence University Sri Lanka spoke about the chapter that they have contributed to the book. Mr. Asantha briefly touched upon the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Sri Lanka due to its strategic location. Lastly, Mr. Alessandro Albana and Antonio Fiori talked about their contribution to the book which is in the form of an article. Discussing the influence and the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia Mr. Albana remarked “In our article, we second the rise of China through the Belt and Road Initiative but we also do not ignore the shortfalls it has in materializing its infrastructural goals”.
Mr. Albana’s address concluded the session. And, it was indeed concluded on an amicable note, with the Host Dr. Jaiswal thanking the scholars and academics for joining in and sharing their invigorating remarks.
Prepared by Sanjana Prithyani, Intern at NIICE, Nepal