EU Indo-Pacific Strategy Must Address Southeast Asia's Main Concerns

By Rosmalis Anuar KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) -- The European Union (EU) Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific must address the main concerns of Southeast Asian nations - economic prosperity and security - to guarantee stability and peace, said Deputy Defence Minister Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz. In recent years, he said there is an increasing military build-up in the contested waters, such as in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, which turned into an arena for geopolitical competition between the major powers. He stressed that maritime cooperation in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, as emphasised in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, should be promoted with Indo-Pacific partners. "As a region that hosts critical shipping lanes for global maritime trade and energy supply, the Indo-Pacific should be maintained as a region of cooperation, connectivity, and community-building, complying with international law, notably UNCLOS 1982," he said. He was speaking at a conference on Multilateral and Inclusive Indo-Pacific Region: European Strategy and Opportunities for Malaysia and Southeast Asia, held in hybrid format by the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) in collaboration with the France’s Embassy in Malaysia, on Tuesday. Also present were French Ambassador to Malaysia Roland Galharague, German Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Peter Blomeyer, EU Ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas and MIMA Chairman Mohamed Suffian Awang. With the growing rivalry between superpowers in the Indo-Pacific, Ikmal Hisham said it is more profound than ever that the Southeast Asian countries must chart their destiny and actively shape a way forward that is mutual for all, thus maintaining ASEAN's neutrality and centrality principles. On Malaysia-EU cooperation, he said both sides can go beyond maritime security challenges, coordinate in the sustainable development of marine resources, protect the marine environment, and develop maritime connectivity under multilateral frameworks such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Asia-Europe Meeting. "Perhaps finding a way to work together through practical regional defence and military mechanisms like the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus, better known as ADMM+," he added. Elaborating further, Ikmal Hisham said Southeast Asia has grown to become a rapidly evolving region into the centre of growth and prosperity and has attracted the interests of external states. He said smaller countries in Southeast Asia like Malaysia, could utilise their Indo-Pacific partners' expertise to navigate non-traditional security threats and the broader superpower geopolitics occurring in the region. Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Malaysia said the EU will intensify its dialogues with partners on security and defence, including counterterrorism, cyber security, non-proliferation and disarmament as well space and maritime security. In addition, Blomeyer said the EU will support its Indo-Pacific partners' efforts to develop their own peacekeeping capacity. "I should add that the crucial point for all of us is the respect for ASEAN centrality which will rule our engagement in this region," he said. -- BERNAMA