Prakash Panneerselvam

Assistant Professor, School of Conflict and Security Studies, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)

[Project Title]
Maritime Security Governance of Southeast Asia: What is QUAD Strategy to Capacity-Building of Southeast Asian Navies?

Project Summary

In recent years, the situation in the Indo-pacific has become complex and changeable. The Indo-pacific concept has become a major slogan for the regional and non-regional players to build regional cooperation. Under the umbrella term Indo-pacific, the major maritime powers who share similar values and security interests in the region . Australia, Japan, India and the US intensifying their cooperation in three areas i) managing the rise of China and mitigating conflict over Taiwan and South China Sea/East China Sea, ii) Building comprehensive regional initiative to uphold free and open international order based on the rule of law, iii) Cooperation in niche areas trade, infrastructure and connectivity, critical technologies and sustainable development etc. This idea of cooperation gave birth to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue called (QUAD), which has emerged as a formal and regular event to exchange ideas to discuss regional security. A principal agenda of QUAD is to strengthen maritime security governance in the Southeast Asian region. The 2022 Tokyo Quad Leaders’ Summit announced Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which provides near-real-time, integrated and cost-effective maritime domain data to maritime agencies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and planned to expand coverage to partners in the Indian Ocean region in the coming months. This initiative will support regional partners in combatting illicit maritime activities, including IUU fishing and responding to climate-related and humanitarian events. The QUAD has planned to deepen the cooperation within the dialogue partners and also with the regional partners like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) partners to support maritime safety and security and uphold international law. The QUAD nations are best positioned to assist with developing such capacity and can accomplish more by acting together than alone. Therefore, the QUAD should develop a more holistic strategy to address Indo-Pacific maritime challenges. This strategy should focus on significantly expanding activities to enable regional maritime security governance.s