By Hwang Jae-ho
Last week I participated in a conference in New Deli on the theme of "From Contest to Cooperation: A Vision for Shared Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific Region". This was a very timely theme as U.S. President Donald Trump just began his Asian tour. Recently, the U.S. has referred to this region as "Indo-Pacific" rather than "Asia-Pacific". As a researcher on international relations in located in the "Asia-Pacific", it is noteworthy that the geopolitical value and strategic sensitivities of the Indo-Pacific region are growing.
The first thing that comes up to my mind when I think of the concept of Indo-Pacific is the definition of it. It is clear when we geographically divide the earth where Asia, Europe, Africa, America begins and ends. Maritime territories were added to the concept of Asia-Pacific where originally it only consisted of continental lands. This made North and South America, East Asia and Oceania to come into the picture. But South Asia didn't. In recent years India and South Asia joined in the picture by putting the Indo-Pacific region, along with East-Pacific centering around the U.S. and West-Pacific where East Asia were situated. The Indo-Pacific region is therefore very broad and covers many countries. India joins in as another key player after the U.S. and China. It will be a very interesting point to see if having more players will make cooperation more possible or more difficult.
The second thought was where the concept of establishing of Indo-Pacific region came from. Using its economic power, China has expanded its influence in the region and the U.S. reacted to this with ‘Pivot to Asia', a policy to rebalance Asia. Over time, the policy gradually took a military character and aimed at blocking Chinese military force. The confrontation between China on the one hand and the U.S, and its allies on the other hand became very clear with the South and East China Seas issues. And it seemed that ‘Pivot to Asia' expanded to ‘Pivot to Indo-Pacific' with India which is pursuing a larger role in the region. It seems that the U.S. wants to ultimately build a democratic alliance with Japan, Australia, and India.
The third point is about the role of India. Indo-Pacific refers to countries in the Indian and the Pacific Ocean but the name makes India an important key country. India signifies the Indian Ocean. As a traditional South Asian power, India's economic growth is remarkable. But the economic integration of the Indo-Pacific region will not be easy and it will also not be easy to bring about the win-win outcome through economic cooperation. For India to have expanded influence in the region, it will need to have a more constructive role and contribute more also in terms of public goods. Indo-Pacific currently lets out security and military feelings more than economic. If the Indo-Pacific region fails to achieve economic cooperation, it will end up with having only security and military character.
The reason why more attention is given to the Indian Ocean is related to the emergence of a new regional order. At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping emphasized his role as a maintainer and contributor of the existing order despite Trump's movement towards anti-globalization and non-normative environment. However, China aims to build a new order through its New Asian Security Concept and One Belt One Road initiative. The initiative has a strong ‘going west' character, where both on land and sea it goes through India and countries that are near India. The United States' ‘Indo-Pacific' is thus, a counter strategy to China's One Belt One Road and an upgraded version of ‘Pivot to Asia'. It is also the latest version of the democratic alliance of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India of the mid-2000s when U.S., which has found it difficult to manage the world by itself, and Japan, which had troubles dealing with China alone, brought Australia and India into the picture to contain China. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, India's foreign policy has transformed from ‘Look East' to ‘Act East' and this made ASEAN to become a priority in its diplomacy. The problem of India was that it has only been ‘looking' for many years. After China started to expand its regional influence with One Belt One Road, India began to ‘act'. Recent military confrontations with the Chinese in the Doklam region reflect such concerns.
The new Korean government launched in May has announced its new South bound policy. It is still preparing for detailed contents but the announcement is enough to imply a green light that Korea will now include India, a country that seemed far and irrelevant, in its foreign policies. Before, Korean governments focused on foreign policies for U.S., China, Japan, and Russia in order to resolve the North Korean issue. However, in the new Korean government, countries south of Korea such as ASEAN, India and South Asian countries are given more attention for cooperation. The new southern region is, therefore, a region where there is a clash between the United States, wanting to preserve its power, and China who wants to create a new order. This competition will not only stay in the new southern region. It will spill over and go north, to the Korean peninsula. This will allow Korea to consider cooperation with India as a clear alternative to its foreign policy. In particular, cooperation with India, a traditional South Asian power, will be a major work for the government.
Professor Hwang Jae-ho is director of Global Security Cooperation Center, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.
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The first thing that comes up to my mind when I think of the concept of Indo-Pacific is the definition of it. It is clear when we geographically divide the earth where Asia, Europe, Africa, America begins and ends. Maritime territories were added to the concept of Asia-Pacific where originally it only consisted of continental lands. This made North and South America, East Asia and Oceania to come into the picture. But South Asia didn't. In recent years India and South Asia joined in the picture by putting the Indo-Pacific region, along with East-Pacific centering around the U.S. and West-Pacific where East Asia were situated. The Indo-Pacific region is therefore very broad and covers many countries. India joins in as another key player after the U.S. and China. It will be a very interesting point to see if having more players will make cooperation more possible or more difficult.
The second thought was where the concept of establishing of Indo-Pacific region came from. Using its economic power, China has expanded its influence in the region and the U.S. reacted to this with ‘Pivot to Asia', a policy to rebalance Asia. Over time, the policy gradually took a military character and aimed at blocking Chinese military force. The confrontation between China on the one hand and the U.S, and its allies on the other hand became very clear with the South and East China Seas issues. And it seemed that ‘Pivot to Asia' expanded to ‘Pivot to Indo-Pacific' with India which is pursuing a larger role in the region. It seems that the U.S. wants to ultimately build a democratic alliance with Japan, Australia, and India.
The third point is about the role of India. Indo-Pacific refers to countries in the Indian and the Pacific Ocean but the name makes India an important key country. India signifies the Indian Ocean. As a traditional South Asian power, India's economic growth is remarkable. But the economic integration of the Indo-Pacific region will not be easy and it will also not be easy to bring about the win-win outcome through economic cooperation. For India to have expanded influence in the region, it will need to have a more constructive role and contribute more also in terms of public goods. Indo-Pacific currently lets out security and military feelings more than economic. If the Indo-Pacific region fails to achieve economic cooperation, it will end up with having only security and military character.
The reason why more attention is given to the Indian Ocean is related to the emergence of a new regional order. At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping emphasized his role as a maintainer and contributor of the existing order despite Trump's movement towards anti-globalization and non-normative environment. However, China aims to build a new order through its New Asian Security Concept and One Belt One Road initiative. The initiative has a strong ‘going west' character, where both on land and sea it goes through India and countries that are near India. The United States' ‘Indo-Pacific' is thus, a counter strategy to China's One Belt One Road and an upgraded version of ‘Pivot to Asia'. It is also the latest version of the democratic alliance of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India of the mid-2000s when U.S., which has found it difficult to manage the world by itself, and Japan, which had troubles dealing with China alone, brought Australia and India into the picture to contain China. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, India's foreign policy has transformed from ‘Look East' to ‘Act East' and this made ASEAN to become a priority in its diplomacy. The problem of India was that it has only been ‘looking' for many years. After China started to expand its regional influence with One Belt One Road, India began to ‘act'. Recent military confrontations with the Chinese in the Doklam region reflect such concerns.
The new Korean government launched in May has announced its new South bound policy. It is still preparing for detailed contents but the announcement is enough to imply a green light that Korea will now include India, a country that seemed far and irrelevant, in its foreign policies. Before, Korean governments focused on foreign policies for U.S., China, Japan, and Russia in order to resolve the North Korean issue. However, in the new Korean government, countries south of Korea such as ASEAN, India and South Asian countries are given more attention for cooperation. The new southern region is, therefore, a region where there is a clash between the United States, wanting to preserve its power, and China who wants to create a new order. This competition will not only stay in the new southern region. It will spill over and go north, to the Korean peninsula. This will allow Korea to consider cooperation with India as a clear alternative to its foreign policy. In particular, cooperation with India, a traditional South Asian power, will be a major work for the government.
Professor Hwang Jae-ho is director of Global Security Cooperation Center, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.
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