India Stands For Open, Free & Rule-Based Indo-Pacific: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reaffirmed that India will stand for open, free and rule-based maritime order in the Indo-pacific region at the 18th Heads of  Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in New Delhi on Saturday. 

Minister apparently attacked China and said, “We stand for open, free, rule-based maritime borders in Indo-pacific, in which no nation, how-so-ever big, may be allowed to appropriate the global common or exclude others from its fair use. We are always ready and forthcoming to work with all the like-minded partner countries across various forums towards this endeavour.”

He stressed that India’s shared vision of Security and Growth of All in the Region (SAGAR), Sustainable Development Goals and ‘Rule Based Order at Sea’ complement the focused Indian approach of inclusive growth and lasting collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.

He called for effective collaboration among maritime nations to deal with challenges to maritime safety. “With continued growth in marine traffic, the potential risk of marine pollution and requirement of Search and Rescue consequent to any unwanted maritime incidents have also grown manifold, so, a successful response strategy against threats is the need of the hour,” he added.

The HACGAM is a multilateral forum of 23 countries including Australia, China, France,  India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkiye and others.

This year, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is hosting the 18th HACGAM in coordination with the HACGAM secretariat from 14 to 18 October. A total of 55 representatives from 18 countries and two International Organisations - Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC) and United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime- Global Maritime Crime Programme (UNODC-GMCP) - are participating in the meeting.