Southeast Asia & Oceania Centre

Bimonthly Newsletter INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE STUDIES AND ANALYSES

Photo Courtesy : Sanket S Kulkarni & Dr. Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan

INSIGHT SOUTHEAST ASIA

Vol 5 No 2 March-April 2016

Looking Eastwards From New Delhi

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon

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ContentsEDITOR’S NOTE

COMMENTARY

Embracing the 'New' Myanmar: India's 'New'Opportunity

Azman Ayob

BOOK REVIEW

Masala Bumbu - Enhancing the India-IndonesiaPartnership, Gurjit SinghPrapti Borah

EVENT REPORT

Interaction between IDSA and National SecurityCouncil of Thailand

NEWS TRACK

Southeast Asia

• ASEAN• ASEAN-India

• Northeast India-Act East Policy• Brunei• Cambodia• East Timor• Indonesia• Laos• Malaysia• Myanmar• Philippines• Singapore• Thailand• Vietnam

Oceania

• Australia• New Zealand• Papua New Guinea

Editor:

Dr Sampa Kundu

Editorial Assistance:

Niranjan C Oak

Adviser:

Dr Udai Bhanu Singh

Southeast Asia and OceaniaCentre

Institute for Defence Studiesand Analyses

No. 1, Development Enclave, RaoTula Ram Marg, Delhi Cantt, New

Delhi – 110 010

Tel. (91-11)2671 7983,

Fax: (91-11)2615 4191

Email:southeastasia.centre@gmail.com

Website: http://www.idsa.in

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The last two months in Southeast Asia and Oceania regions experienced several changesin the political and government structures. The breakthrough came in Myanmar as the

country received its first truly civilian President Htin Kyaw after decades-long fight forrestoration of democracy. However, the Tatmadaw still holds defence, home and border affairsministries and in the parliament, they still occupy almost 25% seats which imply that theNational League for Democracy government in Myanmar still needs to walk few miles beforeit reaches its destination of celebrating democracy to its fullest. Besides Myanmar, communistcountries like Lao PDR and Vietnam too experienced changes in power and government;however, in both the cases, it was the country's communist party and its politburo that wasinstrumental in selecting the new president and prime minister. Philippines too will face anelection on May 9 and the presidential candidates have started campaigning for themselvesin the island country. It is often reported that Duterte is Asia's Donald Trump. The SoutheastAsian observers are intensely watching the developments in all these countries as the nextleaderships will decide the future course of relationship between Southeast Asia and China.This is particularly interesting to observe as the tribunal court at The Hague is expected tocome out with the result of the arbitration case filed by Manila in late 2013. In this background,it was understood why Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi came up with a consensus withBrunei, Lao PDR and Cambodia and claimed that these three countries have accepted thatSouth China Sea disputes are bilateral and not an ASEAN-China issue. A small power shiftwas evident in Cambodia too as the parliament has reshuffled the cabinet a little bit. Theopposition CNRP however is not very hopeful about the country's democratic future. TheThai Junta published a draft copy of the proposed constitution and announced that a publicreferendum will be organised in the coming months.

Terrorism remains a prevalent problem, both by the hands of the local extremist outfits andby the ISIS. Malaysian authority arrested few suspects who were allegedly having closeconnections with the ISIS. In March, the Abu Sayyaf group of Philippines abducted fewIndonesian sailors and later released them in the month of April.

In the Oceania, the biggest surprise came as Japan was defeated by DCNS, France in a bid tomake few submarines for Australia. In the last year, Japan was sure about its win in thesubmarine deal and understandably, this defeat came as a jolt to the Japanese leadership.Will this affect Japan-Australia relationship? Well, this may not be the case as inexperienceof Japanese Mitsubishi was cited as a justification for not offering the deal to Japan.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee paid a visit to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea andspoke about mutual and beneficial cooperation between India and the island nations in thePacific. It seems, India's Act East Policy will be much wider and far-reaching in nature now.

The current issue of Insight Southeast Asia contains these important developments in theregion. Besides, the editorial team is thankful to Mr. Azman Ayob for his thoughtful writingon Myanmar-India relations and how he sees India should act as Myanmar embraces

EDITORIAL

Editor’s Note

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democracy. Ms. Prapti Borah has offered a review of a book written by Amb. Gurjit Singh onIndia-Indonesia bilateral relation. The credit for the cover photo goes to our friends fromNIAS, Bangalore.

Finally, I sincerely hope, the issue of Insight Southeast Asia would enable the students, scholarsand readers in getting clear briefs on the current affairs of the region.

We welcome and appreciate any feedback/suggestion that we get from our readers on InsightSoutheast Asia.

Thank you,

Dr. Sampa Kundu

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YEmbracing the ‘New’ Myanmar: India’s‘New’ Opportunity

Azman Ayob

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti TeknologiMara (UiTM), Malaysia

On November 8, 2015 the general electionwas held in Myanmar and the NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD) led by AungSan Suu Kyi – a long time champion andthe icon of democracy in Myanmar, haswon a landslide victory. It was Myanmar’sfirst national election since a nominalcivilian government led by formerPresident Thein Sein was established in2011. The NLD now is the majority partyin the Burmese Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (theparliament) with 135 out of 224 seats inthe Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) and255 out of 440 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw(Lower House).1 Though the questionremains whether the Burmese Tatmadaw(military) is willing to go back to theirbarracks after 50 years of reigning inpower. This seems little difficult as theystill enjoy 25% of seats2 in the parliament.With this landslide victory of NLD, andwith the appointment of Htin Kyaw asMyanmar’s first civilian President in 53years-time, it can be said that democracyhas once again embraced Myanmar.

But, how India could be benefitted by thisnew political development in Myanmar?India needs to willingly engage Myanmar.

First, India could further engage Myanmarthrough economy. India needs to be energeticand enthusiastic in capturing Myanmar’seconomic potentials. It has become widelyknown that despite India being the fourthtrading partner of Myanmar, followed byThailand, China, and Singapore, it is stilllagging behind in comparison with China’spowerful economic presence in Myanmar.India should not only use Myanmar as just aland bridge connecting to the larger economicadvantages available in the Southeast Asianmarkets, but needs to work to strengthen thatbridge too. Eventually, if this move by Indiamaterialises, it can give India political andstrategic advantages in the region, especiallyin its competition with China.

Second, India’s level of commitment inengaging Myanmar must be improved bylessening the lack of bureaucratic will. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s ‘Act East’ policymust also act fast. The ‘Act East’ policy is therebranding effort of India’s ‘Look East’ policystarted more than two decades ago. Myanmaroccupies a significant position in India’s Look/Act East Policy. India and Myanmar arehistorically and religiously connected. Inhuman societies, history and religion are

1 See “Myanmar’s 2015 Landmark Elections Explained”, BBC, December 3, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036, accessed on April 26, 2016.

2 Ibid.

COMMENTARY

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Myanmar’s policy,3 as Myanmar is now underthe leadership of the NLD government. It maybe recalled here that India showed itsdemocratic-idealist-humanist sentiments insupporting democracy after the 1988 uprisingin Myanmar. Same efforts are again desiredfrom India. Helping Myanmar in democratictransition is a way which India may choose inthe present scenario. India should inviteMyanmar’s parliamentary delegation to Indiafor special training programs on parliamentaryprocedures and practices of the IndianParliament. India should initiate, and later on,benefit from interaction and linkages withMyanmar’s civil society organizations. It shouldget involved in the participation of strategiccommunities in both countries for dialogues inorder to encourage the discussions of mutualconcerns and developing new ideas for thefuture evolution of the bilateral relations ofIndia and Myanmar.4 India should not remainon the sidelines without playing a more activeand constructive role in Myanmar, as it mightusher in Western influence into India’s ownbackyard.5 Democracy embraces Myanmaronce again, and India should not stand idle withfolding arms by becoming indifference to therecent wind of change in Myanmar.

valued as unifying factors which canbring humans closer to each other. Sodoes a country to another country. Ininternational relations, nation-statesbehave somewhat similar to thebehaviour of human being. In Myanmar,India has the advantages of cultural andhistorical connection, which is not thecase for China. The Burmese, if not theirgovernment, think and believe that theyare more connected to India than toChina. India too, should look at thishistory and cultural connectivity betweenthe two countries as a golden opportunityin the long-term objective of fulfillingIndia’s own economic and geostrategicinterests, and act upon it. As due to thesuspension of Myitsone dam and illegalmovement of the Kokang communityacross the China-Myanmar border havecreated some mistrust in China-Myanmar relations, India may take thisas an opportunity to engage withMyanmar in more robust way.

Third, India needs to widen its foreignpolicy objectives towards Myanmar andlook beyond security and naturalresources aspects. India could slowlybring back its Nehruvian idealism in its

3 A. Ayob, “Moralistic Politics versus Realpolitik in India-Myanmar Relations,” Proceeding ofthe 5th International Conference on Southeast Asia (ICONSEA 2013): Southeast Asia Rising,11–13 December 2013, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

4 Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, “Myanmar-India Relations: The Way Forward,” Indian Foreign AffairsJournal, Vol. 6, No. 3, July-September 2011, pp. 324-325.

5 R. Hariharan, “Taking A Re-Look at India-Myanmar Relations,” South Asia Analysis Group,paper no. 1141, October 11, 2004, <http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/paper1141>, accessedOctober 7, 2013.

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‘Masala Bumbu: Enhancing The India-Indonesia Partnership’ is an illustriouspiece of literature which aspires to find anew course for India-Indonesia relationsin the 2015-2025 decade. The title of thebook ‘Masala Bumbu’ represents themultitudes of similarities the twocountries have between them, yet theysee things differently: the Hindi word forspice is ‘masala’ and the Bahasa word forspice is ‘bumbu’.

The most interesting facet of this book isthat it re-examines this bilateralrelationship and seeks to chart out thenecessary steps to realize its tremendouspotential. For this, it probes these ties froman array of angles, through the insightsof 34 writers from India and Indonesia,all prominent figures and specialistscoming from a wide range of backgroundsuch as diplomats, academics, activists,politicians, researchers, journalists,entrepreneurs and many more. Thecontent includes articles on variousdimensions of bilateral interaction suchas ‘Economic Cooperation’, ‘DeliveringDemocracy’, ‘Sustainable Development’,‘The Media Message’, CSR: A NewDevelopment Paradigm’ to name a few.

Gurjit Singh is the editor of the book, who wastill recently, India’s Ambassador to Indonesiasince 2012.

All the contributors extensively stress on theage-old civilizational and cultural links betweenthe two Asian giants but also agree on the factthat despite such strong affinity, India andIndonesia have largely remained distant. Thereis therefore a need to balance out the strongpast links with the contemporary and futureinterest.

The book begins with reminiscence to the timeimmemorial ties between India and Indonesiaand a tribute to the Bandung spirit. GitaWirjawan pointed out similarities like the factthat until the 15th century, many areas inpresent-day Indonesia were ruled by Hindu andBuddhist kingdoms. Bahasa Indonesia, theirnational language contains 3,000 Sanskritwords in its vocabulary. India and Indonesiahad similar fates of colonialism where Indiawas part of the British Imperial Empire andIndonesia was part of the Dutch Empire. Boththe countries are also home to two of the largestMuslim populations in the world. The 2014elections in both the countries brought twopower leaders: Narendra Modi in India andJoko Widodo in Indonesia, who were outsiders

Masala Bumbu - Enhancing The India-Indonesia PartnershipGurjit Singh, Beritasatu Media Holdings, Jakarta (2015),Pp 229, Price: Not specif ied

Prapti Borah

Prapti Borah is a Research Intern at Institute for Defence Studies andAnalyses, New Delhi.

BOOK REVIEW

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to the traditional political elite. Carryingthis thread forward, another contributorS.D. Muni echoed the spirit of theBandung Conference of 1955, whereIndia and Indonesia along with otherAsian countries expressed commitment tothe vision of Asia’s freedom and solidarity.However, the reflections of thisconference got caught up in the ‘whirl-pool of the Cold war, military blocks andintra-Asian conflicts’ (p 52). In the recentyears, the main stumble block inadvancing the Bandung spirit ‘lies in theintra-Asian relations’. The intra-Asianrelations ‘have been critically impacted byChina’s phenomenal economic rise andits growing political and diplomaticassertion in Asia, backed by a fast pace ofits military modernization’ (p 54). WhileUnited States and China are competingwith each other to establish their strategiccontrol over Asia, India must makeoptimum use of its historical links withthis region, particularly with Indonesia tobegin with, to firm its own strategicequations with the major regional players.The question that arises is ‘how much hasthe relationship adapted and recalibratedwith the challenges and opportunities oftoday and tomorrow?’ (p 46) Dino PattiDjalal claimed that efforts must be madeto answer the above question, becausedespite so many similarities, Indonesianeeds to get India right. For example,there are no direct flights from Jakartato any airport in India, many Indonesianstudents prefer to go to US, Germany andAustralia rather than India for higherstudies. It seems like India is yet to catchthe popular public imagination inIndonesia. Djalal expressed the need forstrategic trust to become an integral partof the strategic partnership. Thesereflections are important to highlight

because they will help the policy-makers inboth the countries to not take the similaritiesfor granted and thereby prevent each otherfrom turning into a geopolitical blind-spot ineach other’s foreign policy.

In the field of economic cooperation thoughthere has been a slow yet steady growth inbilateral trade, neither country is in the top fiveof each other’s trading partners. In terms ofinstitutional arrangement to support bilateraltrade, there is dearth of active functioning andonly movement is on paper. For example, thebilateral trade agreement which was signed in1963 was last revised in 1978. The BilateralTrade Ministers Forum which was initiated in2013 has not worked out. Ambassador GurjitSingh pointed out that this dimension of thebilateral relation requires momentum. WhileIndian business associations have felt thatIndonesia does not prioritize their engagements,the other side finds Indian trade investmentlargely confined to the coal sector in Indonesia.Suryo Sulisto listed five sectors where Indianand Indonesian businesses could gain morefrom partnership: infrastructure, education,healthcare, manufacturing, services. Foodsecurity is an important consideration for boththe countries hence strategic cooperation in thefield of agriculture is extremely relevant. H.SDhillon stressed on the need for comparativeadvantages between the two countries whereIndonesia should invest in the agro-processingsector in India and Indian businesses shouldinvest in the processing of cashew nuts andpigeon pea industries. India has advanced wellin the Jatropa Curcas, this could become a newdimension of strategic partnership in the formof joint research in bio-diesel. While India isan important importer of edible oils fromIndonesia, there remains a large scope for‘increasing the share of cereal exports toIndonesia’ (p 84). Experts from the booksuggest that India and Indonesia should workout a joint food reserve against the volatile

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climate of international markets. Indiaand Indonesia, two powerful members ofthe G-33 must work together againstdiscriminatory policies such as the AoArules that hinder the process of foodsecurity in developing countries.

Indonesia and India have been recognisedas the rising countries in the political pathof democracy. I Ketut Putra Erawan, oneof the contributors of the book who is theExecutive Director of Institute of Peaceand Democracy in Indonesia proposedthree means of a possible strategic agendaof cooperation between Indonesia andIndia. The first agenda is the consolidationof electoral governance such as jointlyintroducing technologies used in theelectoral processes (such as single-electronic ID based on biometric systemand implementing electronic voting in thefuture). The second agenda is equalizingdevelopment which involves the reformof public services mechanism. The essenceof this is development programmes whichwould require vast amount of funding,local support for sustainability and long-term commitments. The third agenda ofmaritime cooperation which wouldinvolve ‘sharing experiences in developinga White paper, strategic guidance, orpolicy paper’ (p 110). This would mainlyfocus on sharing experiences on how todevelop maritime infrastructure, defencemodernization and on building trust of thecitizens.

Sustainable Development is a concept thathas not largely been an agenda of bilateralrelations which makes this an area ofabundant scope. Sustainability essentiallyfocuses on renewable energy resources,agriculture or forestry. Shinta Kamdani,one of the contributors opined thatinitiatives by the Indonesian governmentlike ‘The reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation’(REDD+) in relation to climate change andinitiatives in India like projects focused onrenewable energy which have been installed toensure energy security and access in places likeTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand,and Chhattisgarh-can become the foundationfor a partnership in sustainable development.For the success of such collaborations,education is extremely important to developsustainability of human capital in bothcountries. A particular ongoing project toimprove health quality is the ‘Quit TobaccoInternational Project’ initiated by the UN.

Security forms the most integral aspect of anybilateral relation. In the context of Indonesia-India relations, regional cooperation in theIndian Ocean and security cooperation alongwith non-traditional threats are key elementsof bilateral security partnership. ShankariSundararaman highlighted that when it comesto the Indian Ocean, Indonesia despitebecoming a member of the Indian Ocean RimAssociation (IORA), has hardly made it anintegral part of its diplomacy. This forumremains largely undeveloped due to lack ofinstitutional systems and holds great potentialto forge greater ties between the two countriesby joint action in areas such as maritime safetyand security, fisheries management, disasterrisk management, science and technologycooperation through this forum. Indonesia’snew emphasis on “Maritime Axis” launched byPresident Joko Widodo offers significant chanceto India-Indonesia partnership. Non-traditional threats are the contemporary forcesof destabilisation that are confronting regionalpeace and stability in the form of ethnicinsurgency, trans-border threats, Jihadimenace etc. and handling those problemsrequire significant enhancement of bilateralcooperation. For example, India and Indonesiasigned a MoU on Combating InternationalTerrorism in 2004 which led to the formation

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of a Joint Working Group on CounterTerrorism to exchange information andintelligence, capacity building and legalcooperation.

Civil society, media and corporate socialresponsibility are important tools todevelop a matrix of developmentcooperation between the two countries.This is the most contemporary dimensionto the strategic partnership and itsoutreach is manifold. Mr. Endy Bayunicommented that there is ignorance aboutIndia in Indonesia and vice versa. Heblamed media of two countries for notgiving sufficient coverage to each other.Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro whowrote about development of humanresources said Indonesia has to learnpassion for education and curiosity fromIndia. Mr. Amol Titus appreciated India’slow cost education system which he saidcan be model for Indonesia which alsohas very large young population likeIndia. He said India can learn to organizefunctions and events from Indonesia. Ms.Tri Yuli Adriana spoke about corporatesocial responsibility and said that it shouldbe more effectively used forempowerment of people. She said thatwhile private sector in Indonesia spendsfunds under corporate social responsibilityits objectives are not often met. Mrs. NeeruSingh said that Indian companies havebeen doing work under the CorporateSocial Responsibility for long. The variouscontributors on sections dedicated to thesethree themes proposed the need to harnessthese means to benefit not only India andIndonesia, but other emergingdemocracies as well.

India and Indonesia are in the middle ofnew regional dynamics and bothcountries have common priorities andgoals to attain. The means to harness their

partnership further should be expedited. As thelarger democracies in the world, the role of boththe countries in ensuring favourable regionalstability is pivotal.

Masala Bumbu serves as the mostcomprehensive example of strategicpartnership, at least in the field of culture andliterature because it is a product of the comingtogether of intellectuals from both India andIndonesia, this is the first of a kind. The veryintention of the contributors of this book servesto reinvigorate India-Indonesia relations. Thispaves the way for more such collaborations inthe field of literature dedicated to India-Indonesia bilateral relations. The book hastouched upon some new avenues such asSustainable Development and Corporate SocialResponsibility that are fresh opportunities forpartnership.

The book is aimed serving as a guide for policymakers, journalists, students of internationalstudies and common readers who are interestedin India and Indonesia and it also forms animportant milestone in ‘Sahabat India – TheFestival of India in Indonesia’.

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Interaction between IDSA and NationalSecurity Council of Thailand, May 5, 2016

EVENT REPORT

A delegation of five security experts ledby Mr. Surat Horachakul, Director ofIndian Studies Center of ChulalongkornUniversity, from the National SecurityCouncil of Thailand visited IDSA, whichwas followed by an interaction with issuesrelating to the emerging trends interrorism. The interaction was chaired byDeputy Director General, IDSA,Brig.(Retd) Rumel Dahiya.

Brig. Dahiya in his introduction statedthat problems of terrorism are not easilyovercome in a short span of time. Thereare many facets to it. For instance, howmuch influence will the returnees fromthe war fighting on the side of ISIS carryback home? How will they be integratedinto the society? How will theirmovements be monitored? Mr.Horachakul asserted that in efforts tocounter terrorism, it is very necessary towork together and share informationbetween countries. In the face offundamentalism, the question that arisesis ‘how to de-fundamentalise the youngminds’. It was then asserted thatprevention is more necessary than de-radicalization. The reasons that manyyoungsters fall prey to suchfundamentalist indoctrination has moreto do with factors like lack of education,feeling of revenge, lack of self-worthrather than specifically the religiousideology. Citing India’s example, it wasmentioned that the country represents aunique story- 1000 Ulemas from Indiahave issued the world’s largest fatwaagainst ISIS in a letter addressed to UNSecretary General Ban Ki Moon in 2015.

India has maintained in all internationalforums that terrorism is transnational. Thereis a need to look at the unique flavour ofterrorism in Southeast Asia. The causes forterrorism are local and therefore the way totackle them can also be local and unique. Specialemphasis should be laid on the study of ethnicgroups, societies to reach some kind of apragmatic and realistic solution to the problemof terrorism. On the issue of the South ChinaSea conflict, Brig. Rumel Dahiyacommunicated that India has largely remainedsilent because ASEAN has not expressed aunified stand on the dispute. However, Indiahas maintained that the South China Sea mustbe free from conflicts and that freedom ofnavigation must be maintained.

The interaction addressed some importantpoints of concern between the two countries,making way for more healthy dialogues in thefuture. There is a lot of expectation hinged onto the development of India-Thailand bilateralrelationship which is an important step forIndia-ASEAN partnership.

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Southeast Asia

ASEANWang Yi’s Three Nation SE Asia Tour

In the last week of April, Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi visited Brunei,Cambodia and Lao PDR in an effort tocourt these smaller economies ofSoutheast Asia before the tribunal courtat The Hague gives its verdict on thearbitration case filed by The Philippinesin 2013. In this visit, the foreign ministermet the heads of states and talked aboutfriendships between China and thosecountries. He later claimed that thesethree Southeast Asian nations reached aconsensus with China which speaks aboutbilateral negotiations and maintenance ofthe DoC and implementation of the Codeof Conduct in settling the South China Seadisputes. Several ASEAN leadersexpressed their concerns on thisdevelopment as it represented anotherChinese attempt to further diversifyASEAN’s opinion on resolving theterritorial disputes between China,Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and to someextent, Malaysia. 1

The 2nd ASEAN WomenEntrepreneurs Network

The 2nd ASEAN Women EntrepreneursNetwork (AWEN) Forum was conductedin Ha Noi, Vietnam on March 5 where

over 500 small and medium-size enterprisesowners (all women entrepreneurs) from tenASEAN Member States participated. Theobjectives of the forum were to shareexperiences and exchange views on strategiesto nurture women entrepreneurs. Severalenterprises and business associations fromwithin and outside ASEAN shared theirbusiness models for women’s participation infinancial sector, corporate social responsibility,and economic empowerment of women. CocaCola, Women in International Trade LosAngeles, IMEX Pan Pacific, GREAT WomenPhilippines, Association of WomenEntrepreneurs of Indonesia, TH Group, andmany more business houses marked theirparticipation in the event. H.E. Nguyen ThiDoan, Vice State President of Viet Nam andASEAN Secretary General H.E. Le Luong Minhawarded six extra-ordinary womenentrepreneurs. The AWEN was established bythe ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women toserve as a platform for ASEAN womenentrepreneurs to escalate their businessmanagement and skills as well as improve theiraccess to financial institutions, market andbusiness opportunities. Initiated in April 2014,the AWEN is right now coordinated by the VietNam Women Entrepreneurs’ Council for theinitial two years. 2

23rd ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue

ASEAN and New Zealand Senior Officials metfor the 23rd ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogueorganised in Bali, Indonesia where theyconfirmed to explore prospects to furtherreinforce cooperation for mutual benefit. New

1 Lindsay Murdoch , “South China Sea dispute ‘not a China-ASEAN problem’”,The Sydney MorningHerald, April 25, 2016, at http://www.smh.com.au/world/south-china-sea-dispute-not-a-chinaasean-problem-20160425-goe7u1.html, accessed on May 10, 2016.

2 “ASEAN to Foster Women Enterpreneurs in Advancing the AEC Development”, ASEAN.org,March 5, 2016, at http://www.asean.org/asean-to-foster-women-enterpreneurs-in-advancing-the-aec-development/, accessed on April 18, 2016.

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Zealand was acknowledged as a strategicpartner of ASEAN at the ASEAN-NewZealand Summit held in November 2015in Kuala Lumpur where they alsocommemorated the 40th Anniversary ofthe relationship. Both New Zealand andASEAN agreed that their relations arenow considerable and multi-faceted. TheASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FreeTrade Agreement (AANZFTA) andcooperation in sectors like defence andsecurity, disaster risk management,connectivity, maritime cooperation andnon-traditional security areas have deeperinfluence on ASEAN and New Zealandrelations. New Zealand is involved inregional mechanisms like East AsiaSummit, ASEAN Regional Forum andASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.It conveyed strong support for ‘ASEANCentrality’ in the regional architecture. Inthe Dialogue, both sides discussed regionaland international issues which includedrecent developments in the South ChinaSea, counter-terrorism and transnationalcrime, trafficking in persons, cyber-crimeetc. Both sides spoke about peacefulresolution of disputes, respect for legal anddiplomatic processes and maintenance ofInternational Law such as the 1982United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea. Abdurrahman MohammadFachir, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairsof Indonesia and Brook Barrington, ChiefExecutive and Secretary of Foreign Affairsand Trade of New Zealand co-chaired themeeting.3

Premier Li Keqiang Met SE Asian Leaders

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met leaders fromMyanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia andVietnam in the southern Chinese resort townof Sanya on Hainan Island on March 23 andhe pledged to give $11.5 billion in loans andcredit lines to these five Southeast Asiancountries. However, it should be noticed thatsuch offers from China to ASEAN countries areusually made in official gatherings and no timeframe was mentioned by Premier Li. Chinashares territorial disputes with Vietnam overtheir claims on South China Sea and withMyanmar, the twists and turns in relationscame as Myanmar suspended few Chineseprojects in the recent years. With newgovernments both in Vietnam and Myanmar,it is now time to watch the future trends inChina-Southeast Asia relations. 4

ASEAN Information Ministers Meeting

The ASEAN Information Ministers reiteratedtheir commitment to work together to elevateawareness about ASEAN among the people andmake a sense of community throughinformation and media. The 13th Conferenceof AMRI was happened along with the 4th

Meeting of AMRI Plus Three, 14th Meeting ofASEAN Senior Officials Responsible forInformation (SOMRI), 4th Meeting of SOMRIPlus Three and 1st Meeting of SOMRI PlusJapan. The meeting was themed ‘One ASEAN:Connectivity. Community. Opportunity’. Therepresentatives approved the Strategic Plan forInformation and Media 2016-2025 to enablethe information sector so that it can contributetowards ASEAN community building exercises.

3 ASEAN, New Zealand To Enhance Cooperation, ASEAN.org, March 4, 2016, at http://www.asean.org/asean-new-zealand-to-enhance-cooperation/, accessed on April 18, 2016.

4 “China Offers $11.5B in Loans, Credit to Southeast Asia”, VOA News, March 23, 2016, at http://www.voanews.com/content/ap-china-southeast-asian-leaders-seek-greater-cooperation/3250705.html, accessed on April 19, 2016.

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They also discussed preparations tocelebrate the 50th Founding Anniversaryof ASEAN in 2017. 5

Solomon Island’s Envoy to ASEAN

Ambassador Salana Kalu of SolomonIslands took charge as the Ambassadorof his country to ASEAN. Mr. Le LuongMinh expressed that ASEAN andSolomon Islands could further exploitopportunities to uphold cooperation. Healso mentioned about the Pacific IslandsForum (PIF) and the MelanesianSpearhead Group (MSG) through whichSolomon Islands and ASEAN can worktogether He identified few areas liketourism, fisheries, trade and investmentfor future cooperation. Both sides alsodeliberated on potential ways toencourage connectivity and people-to-people contacts between ASEAN andSolomon Islands. Other issues that werediscussed included regional andinternational issues of common interestsincluding ASEAN community buildinginitiative.6

Czech Republic and ASEANCooperation

ASEAN and Czech Republic will worktogether to utilise the vast potential bothsides have in common, mentioned H.E.Ivan Hotìk, the new Czech Ambassador

to ASEAN. Ambassador Hotìk further said thatthe Czech Republic will also encouragecollaboration between ASEAN and theEuropean Union as well as within ASEAN.Secretary-General Minh elaborated thatASEAN and the Czech Republic could furtherwork on areas including trade and investment.Secretary-General Minh and AmbassadorHotìk also deliberated on promising ways tofurther stimulate business-to-businesscooperation. Few regional and internationalissues were also covered in their discussion. 7

ASEAN-IndiaIndia Remains Part of RCEP: Minister

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman onApril 20 said that India remained part of theASEAN-led talks for Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) with six othercountries. Sitharaman said, “India (is)participating in the next round beginning April24, 2016, at Sydney, Australia”. This was areaction to a media report that the negotiatingteam for the accord had found India to beobstructionist and had asked New Delhi toeither agree to eliminate tariffs on all productsor leave the talks on the proposed free tradeagreement. The negotiations were launched inNovember 2012 at the Cambodia ASEANSummit.8

5 “ASEAN Information Ministers Reaffirm Commitment to Raise ASEAN Awareness”,ASEAN.org, March 21, 2016, at http://www.asean.org/asean-information-ministers-reaffirm-commitment-to-raise-asean-awareness/, accessed on April 19, 2016.

6 “Solomon Islands to Forge Close Cooperation with ASEAN”, ASEAN.org, March 22, 2016, athttp://www.asean.org/solomon-islands-to-forge-close-cooperation-with-asean/, accessed onApril 19, 2016.

7 Czech Republic to Strengthen Relationship with ASEAN”, ASEAN.org, March 25, 2016, at http://www.asean.org/54184-2/, accessed on April 19, 2016.

8 “India remains part of Asean-led trade pact talks: Minister”, Business Standard, April 20, 2016,at http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/india-remains-part-of-ASEAN-led-trade-pact-talks-minister-116042000347_1.html

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India at ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-Sessional Group Meeting on ConfidenceBuilding Measures and PreventiveDiplomacy

ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-SessionalGroup Meeting on Confidence BuildingMeasures and Preventive Diplomacy washeld in New Delhi on April 11. Indiasought the cooperation of the ASEANmembers in the global fight againstterrorism. “The dialogue and cooperationamong Asia-Pacific states, both bilaterallyand in multilateral forums hasintensified,” Preeti Saran, secretary (East)in the Ministry of External Affairs, saidin her opening remarks. She spoke aboutterrorism, proliferation of weapons ofmass destruction (WMD), territorial andmaritime disputes, cyber-crime, piracy,food and energy insecurity,environmental degradation andhumanitarian disasters at the meeting.She referred to ARF as one of the earliestforums to focus on counter-terrorism andtransnational crime.9

India-Singapore Urban ManagementProgramme Launched

An urban management programorganised by Temasek Foundation (TF),Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE)and NITI Aayog was happened in NewDelhi on April 27 and over 50 participantsfrom seven Indian states participated. Itwas arranged with the aim of refining

urbanisation in India with assistancefrom Singapore. This was in accordance withan Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)which was signed during PM Narendra Modi’svisit to Singapore in 2015. The best practices ofSingapore in these areas were shared by TF andSCE.10

Northeast India-ActEast PolicyMore Waterways in NE:

Jitendra Singh, Minister of State forDevelopment of the North-eastern Region(DoNER), has announced that Northeast Indiawill get 17 waterway projects which willessentially help the region in connecting withthe neighbouring states. These waterwayprojects will be in addition to the railway androad connectivity projects that are underway.He said, “Over a hundred waterways are beingdeveloped across the country and 17 suchprojects planned for the north-eastern region.Multi-modal connectivity in the region hasbeen undertaken on a priority basis to boosttrade and to increase the movement of people.”He further mentioned that waterway projectsneed less investment in comparison to othercommunication infrastructure. The NationalWaterways Bill 2015 was passed in theparliament which aims at add 106 inlandwaterways which will be additions to theexisting six National Waterways. This new

9 “India seeks Asean’s cooperation in fighting terrorism”, Zee News, April 11, 2016, at http://z e e n e w s . i n d i a . c o m / n e w s / i n d i a / i n d i a - s e e k s - a s e a n s - c o o p e r a t i o n - i n - f i g h t i n g -terrorism_1875010.html

10 Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, “India-Singapore urban management programme launched”, TheEconomic Times, April 27, 2016, at http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2016-04-27/news/72644778_1_india-singapore-singapore-cooperation-enterprise-temasek-foundation , accessed on May 9, 2016.

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move by the government has beeninfluenced by the recommendations of theParliamentary Standing Committee onTransport, Tourism and Culture.11

President of India Visits New Zealandand PNG:

President Pranab Mukherjee paid a visitto New Zealand and Papua New Guineain the last week of April and pitched thatthe pacific nations are natural extensionof Southeast Asia, India’s immediateneighbourhood. He further mentioned,

“With our ‘Look East’ policy evolvinginto an ‘Act East’ policy, the region hasgained even greater salience in ourstrategic thinking and economicengagement. Most of India’s foreigntrade flows through the sea lanes of theIndian and the Pacific Oceans. Theselanes also bring us the bulk of ourenergy, be it oil, gas or coal.”

New Zealand PM John Key said,

“we do a lot less business with India thanwe do with China, and a lot less businesswith India relative to the size of theeconomy in India, so we’re keen to reallypush that closer economic cooperationat some point.”

The Kiwi PM further said that NewZealand can help India in areas likeagriculture, food processing, high-end

manufacturing, disaster management etc.Other areas are tourism and education. Besides,they spoke about climate change, povertyelimination, trade and business, FDI,connectivity and many other areas. 12

PNG and India signed four agreements,including in the areas of healthcareand information technology (IT). A MoU wassigned between India’s ministry of health andfamily welfare and Paua New Guinea’sministry of health and HIV/AIDS for a broadrange of cooperation in the field of healthcareand medical science. Another MoU was signedbetween the Papua New Guinea governmentand the Export Import Bank of India for a$100-million credit line for development ofinfrastructure in the island-nation. The thirdMoU was between the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research, New Delhi, and PNGUniversity of Technology, Lae, for cooperationin agricultural research. The fourth MoU wassigned between the governments of India andPapua New Guinea for establishing of India-Papua New Guinea Centre for Excellence inIT. Papua New Guinea is the largest of all thePacific island-nations.13

ASEAN-Northeast India Business SummitOpens in Imphal

The three-day North East India- ASEANBusiness Summit was held in Imphal on April7-9. It focused on Manipur as the key tradepoint between India and South East Asian

11 17 waterway projects to link north-east with other states, Business Today, April 20, 2016, athttp://www.businesstoday.in/current/policy/17-waterway-projects-to-link-north-east-with-other-states/story/230560.html, accessed on May 9, 2016.

12 “Look East to Act East policy: President pitches for closer ties with NZ”, Hindustan Times,April 30, 2016, at http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/look-east-to-act-east-policy-p r e s i d e n t - p i t c h e s - f o r - c l o s e r - t i e s - w i t h - n e w - z e a l a n d / s t o r y -WOwMaDSmCywYNPQrXpu7gK.html, accessed on May 9, 2016.

13 “India, Papua New Guinea sign four agreements”, Business Standard, April 29, 2016, at http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/india-papua-new-guinea-sign-four-agreements-116042900829_1.html

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countries. Bangladesh CommerceMinister Tofail Ahmed, ambassadors ofPhilippines, Vietnam and Thailand,ASEAN representatives and about 140Indian delegates, includingentrepreneurs, took part in the summit.

The primary objective of the summit wasto attract Indian and foreign investors toboost economic development andemployment generation in the northeast.It was jointly organized by Manipurcommerce and industries department andIndian Chamber of Commerce andICSI.14

BruneiChina, Brunei Pledge Further StrategicCooperation

Top diplomatic officials from China andBrunei pledged to further boost strategiccooperation between the two nations andpush forward ties between China andASEAN. The remarks were made at ameeting between Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi and Brunei’s SecondMinister of Foreign Affairs and Trade YBPhein Dato Lim Jock Seng. China andBrunei are celebrating the 25thanniversary of the establishment of theirdiplomatic relations in 2016. At themeeting, Mr. Wang Yi said that Bruneiwas a reliable and sincere friend andpartner of China, and China highlyvalued the strategic cooperativerelationship between the two countries.

He proposed that the two sides should maintainhigh-level exchanges to constantly pushforward bilateral ties and show support onmajor issues concerning each other’s coreinterests. For his part, Lim Jock Seng said thatBrunei was willing to join hands with China tofurther deepen strategic cooperation andmaintain high-level exchanges between the twosides, boost pragmatic cooperation in the fieldsof infrastructure construction, finance andpetrochemical industry and expand exchangesin tourism, Chinese medicine and youth. Henoted that Brunei would always uphold theone-China policy.15

CambodiaCambodia-Australia Refugee Deal underQuestion

According to local news agencies, a marriedIranian couple, who were amongst the five tobe resettled in Cambodia under a refugee dealsigned between Cambodia and Australia, hasalready left the country for their home in Iran.The Australia-Cambodia refugee deal wassigned in 2014 and through this accordAustralia has to pay$55 million to Cambodiafor resettlement of refugees who had earlier fledto Australia from different parts of the worldto avoid persecution. With the recentdevelopment, the refugee deal is facing anotherfresh wave of difficulties as very few of therefugees were ready to leave Australia forresettlement in Cambodia. Most of thoserefugees are originally from Myanmar and Iranand according to media reports; they are readyto return to their home countries despite

14 “Asean business summit focuses on Manipur”, The Times of India, April 9, 2016, at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/imphal/ASEAN-business-summit-focuses-on-Manipur/articleshow/51750749.cms

15 “China, Brunei pledge further strategic cooperation”, Xinhuanet, April 21, 2016, at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/21/c_135301271.htm

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existing fear of persecution than resettlingin Cambodia. The Australian authority isdiscussing the possibilities of third-countryresettlement with other Asia-Pacificnations as well. Elaine Pearson,Australian Director for Human RightsWatch mentioned,

“Cambodia’s track record of poorlyintegrating refugees over the last fiveyears was well-known, but theAustralian government refused to listenand thought it could throw money at theproblem to fix it. Now the cost of thishuman experiment is not only a wasted$55 million, but it’s also placingrecognised refugees in the perilousposition of returning to home countrieswhere they faced persecution.”16

Reshuffle in Cambodian Cabinet

Cambodia’s parliament has recentlyendorsed a ne cabinet of 26 members. InCambodia’s history, such a move looks arare incident as PM hun Sen likes tosurround himself with his close associatesand he has done it for the last threedecades of his leadership. This reshufflewas a result of necessities originated bythe change in the minds of theCambodians. It has been reported thatmost of the changes were related toreassignments to other portfolios and onlytwo ministers were removed from thecabinet. The next election is due in 2018and this time Pm Hun Sen is expected toface many challenges against his regime.However, the opposition party has

claimed that most of the changes are only acosmetic and will have no real-timeimplications on the Cambodain politics. 17

East TimorIndia Supports Timor Leste Joining ASEAN,Says Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj saidon March 28 that India looked forward to theSoutheast Asian nation of Timor Leste joiningthe ASEAN bloc. She said this during a meetingwith Timor Leste’s Minister for Foreign Affairsand Cooperation Hermani Coelho da Silva. Thiswas the first visit to India by a foreign ministerof Timor Leste since the establishment ofdiplomatic ties between the two countries in2003. The EAM also expressed concern thatbilateral trade between India and Timor Lestethat stood at only $3 million and said that bothsides should explore new avenues of trade andinvestment.

There was a draft memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) on health cooperationthat was under discussion between the twocountries. In terms of capacity building,Sushma Swaraj said that India could increaseIndian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) training slots and Indian Council forCultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships forTimor Leste. She also said that India could alsoconsider imparting training to Timor Lestediplomats in the Foreign Service Institute here.The Timor Leste minister invited Indian privatesector companies to participate in infrastructuredevelopment, agriculture development and

16 Ben Doherty, “More refugees leave Cambodia, further straining $55m deal with Australia”,The Guardian, March 8, 2016, at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/08/more-refugees-leave-cambodia-further-straining-55m-deal-with-australia, accessed on April 18, 2016.

17 “Cambodia parliament approves PM’s ‘healthier’ new cabinet”, Reuters, April 4, 2016, at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-politics-idUSKCN0X10IT, accessed on May 9, 2016.

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capacity building. Da Silva also said that11 oil blocks were also open for explorationby India. Both countries have cooperatedclosely with each other in UN forums.18

East Timor - Australia Spat over SeaBorder

East Timor has requested the UnitedNations to help resolve its bitter disputewith Australia over a permanent seaborder in the oil-rich Timor Sea. EastTimor on April 11 informed Australia thatit would trigger conciliation proceedingsunder the UN’s Convention of the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS). The move wassharply criticised by the Australiangovernment. The spokesperson for foreignminister Julie Bishop said that the movecontravened previous agreements betweenthe two nations. In March, there were massprotests in Dili over the unresolvedmaritime border, with more than 10,000people rallying outside the Australianembassy in the Timorese capital. 19

IndonesiaIndonesian –China Row over Fishing

Indonesian warships detained a Chinesetrawler allegedly operating in Indonesianwaters on April 24, just weeks after a

confrontation between vessels from the twocountries caused tensions. This is in line withtough crackdown launched in 2014 on illegalfishing which involved sinking foreign vesselscaught fishing without a permit afterimpounding the boats and removing the crews.The trawler was intercepted by two navy shipsafter receiving information that a ship wantedby Interpol in Argentina had been spotted inAceh, in the northwest of Sumatra. The boatwas taken to a naval base in Belawan, NorthSumatra for investigation. The Chinese trawlerwas previously reported to have been fishingillegally in Argentine waters in late February.20

Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo Beginsin Indonesia

The multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo 2016was started in Padang, Indonesia on April 12,with an opening ceremony and arrival of navyships from 35 nations in the city’s harbour forthe international fleet review. It is the seconditeration of the exercise, which began in 2014in Batam, Indonesia. Komodo 2016 featured arobust harbour phase that included aninternational fleet review and a sea phasetraining scenario where participating navieswould work together to enhance informationsharing and maritime cooperation.Approximately 48 ships and aircraft from 35navies participated in the sea phase, including18 ASEAN Plus member states.21

18 “India looks forward to Timor Leste joining Asean: Sushma Swaraj”, The Times of India, March28, 2016, at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/India-looks-forward-to-Timor-Leste-joining-ASEAN-Sushma-Swaraj/articleshow/51588558.cms

19 Tom Allard, “East Timor takes Australia to UN over sea border”, The Sydney Morning Herald,April 11, 2016, at http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/east-timor-takes-australia-to-un-over-sea-border-20160411-go39tl.html

20 “Indonesian navy impounds Chinese trawler for illegal fishing”, Inquirer, April 24, 2016, athttp://globalnation.inquirer.net/138878/indonesian-navy-impounds-chinese-trawler-for-illegal-fishing

21 “Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo Kicks Off in Indonesia”, US Pacific Command, April 12,2016, at http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/tabid/5693/Article/719662/multilateral-naval-exercise-komodo-kicks-off-in-indonesia.aspx

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LaosLaos Gets New President and PrimeMinister

Communist Party Chief BounnhangVorachit was appointed as the country’snew president on April 20 by Laos’sNational Assembly. Foreign ministerThongloun Sisoulith was appointed ascountry’s Prime Minister. The picks wereseen by many analysts as a continuationof the status quo in secretive Laos, wherethe communists have been ruling sincethe end of the Vietnam War.

Laos has average GDP growth of 7percent over the past decade, withincreasing use of natural resourcescontributing a third of output growth.22

New President of Laos Paid a Visit toVietnam

The newly elected president of Laos,Bounnhang Vorachit, visited Vietnam ashis first foreign stop. Vorachit told hisVietnamese host, General-SecretaryNguyen Phu Trong, that it was a greathonour to visit Vietnam on his firstoverseas trip to meet Vietnam’s leaderswho were “extremely close andtrustworthy friends” of Laos. Trong, whowas elected to a second five-year term inJanuary, said that Vorachit’s visit wouldboost bilateral relations between two of

the world’s last remaining communistcountries. Laos is holding the annualchairmanship of the ASEAN for 2016.23

MalaysiaMalaysia-China Row over Fishing

More than 100 Chinese fishing boats and shipswere found traversing in Malaysian watersillegally. The Royal Malaysian Navy andMalaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency werelooking into the matter and sent bombardieraircraft to fly that area in order to examinewhether the Chinese boats and shipsencroached into Malaysian ExclusiveEconomic Zone. The Prime Minister’s officementioned that, proper actions will be taken ifthose boats and ships were found guilty byhaving trespassed into Malaysian territory. 24

ISIS Links Arrested

The Malaysian Police have arrested 15 peopleallegedly involved with the ISIS in the weekwhen the Brussels attack happened. Khalid AbuBakar, Malaysia’s national police chief, releaseda statement showing that the suspects, agedbetween 22 and 49, include a mosque cleric, astudent, a police officer and a technician. Therewere 4 women in the 15 people group. This hasadded to the number of 160 people alreadyarrested by the Malaysian authority inconnection with ISIS linked terrorism.Followed by the Jakarta attack in January 2016,

22 “Communist Laos appoints new president, prime minister”, The Times of India, April 20, 2016,at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Communist-Laos-appoints-new-president-prime-minister/articleshow/51905941.cms

23 “New president of Laos visits Vietnam to boost ties”, The Jakarta Post, April 25, 2016, at http://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2016/04/25/new-president-of-laos-visits-vietnam-to-boost-ties.html

24 “More than 100 China vessels spotted in Malaysian waters “, The New Straits Times Online andBernama, March 24, 2016, at http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/03/134965/more-100-china-vessels-spotted-malaysian-waters, accessed on April 19, 2016.

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Malaysia is on high alert too. The policesuspects that these 15 people wereworking on the instruction given by aMalaysian who is fighting for the ISISfrom Syria now and they group was tryingto sabotage the country by one attack.25

1MDB and Malaysian PM

Malaysia’s former Prime MinisterMahathir Mohammad has sued thepresent PM Najib Razak for his allegedinvolvement in the state fund 1MDB.Mahathir Mohammad has accused Mr.Razak of stealing $681m from the 1MDBand prevented the law and judiciary fromtaking appropriate action against him. Theattorney general of Malaysia has alreadygiven a clean chit to Mr. Razak and theprime minister also has denied allallegations. His office maintains that themoney in question in Naijb’s personalaccounts came as a gift from the RoyalSaudi family and not from 1MDB. Duringhis tenure, Mr. Mahathir Mohammadwas accused of arbitrary arrests andrestrictions on media; allegations that arenow troubling the Najib government aswell. However, Mahathir Mohammadis now trying to unseat the presentgovernment and is involved in anti-Najibmovement. He was part of a rally whichwas organised in protest of Najib’sgovernment in downtown Kuala Lumpur.He has also resigned from his post inUMNO, a political body that was madeextremely powerful during his tenure and

which still enjoys an extra-ordinary role inMalaysian politics. In response, Najib side-linedMahathir from the politics and the police havequestioned him over one defamation casebrought by the present prime minister. Inbetween Mahathir has also tried to topple thepresent government in the parliament by azero-confidence vote. 26

MyanmarHtin Kyaw New President of Myanmar

After National League for Democracy’slandslide victory in the November 2015 election,Myanmar got its first civilian president in fivedecades. Htin Kyaw was a choice of the NLDleader Daw Aung Saan Suu Kyi. As the 2008constitution of Myanmar restricts her to get thepresidency in Myanmar, she has opted forforeign ministery and the position of statecouncillor for herself. This has been a victoryof decade-old democracy movem,ent inMyanmar. However, the military still holdsalmost 25% seats in the parliament and theministries of home, defence and border affairsare still with them. Hence, it would bemandatory for Suu Kyi and her party to havecertain kind of compromise with theTatmadaw to run the government andadministration. Another challenge for the NLDgovernment would be to optimise the chancesof restoration of peace and security in areas ofethnic unrest. Under the leadership of TheinSein, only eight out of the 18 ethnic groups hadsigned the nation-wide ceasefire agreement. 27

25 Simon Lewis, “15 Suspected ISIS Members Planning Terror Attacks Have Been Arrested inMalaysia”, Time, March 24, 2016, at http://time.com/4271704/malaysia-arrested-15-isis-members-terror/, accessed on April 19, 2016.

26 Oliver Holmes, “Former Malaysian premier Mahathir sues PM Najib over ‘abuse of power’”,The Guardian, March 23, 2016, at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/former-malaysian-premier-mahathir-sues-pm-najib-over-abuse-of-power, accessed on April 19, 2016.

27 Jonah Fisher, “Myanmar begins presidential selection as Aung San Suu Kyi ruled out”, BBC,March 10, 2016, at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35770535, accessed on April 18, 2016.

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Armed Forces parade day Celebrated

Amid political transition towardsdemocracy led by National League forDemocracy and Daw Aung Saan Suu Kyi,the Myanmar military has celebrated theArmed Forces Parade Day to celebrateMyanmar’s war against imperialist Japanduring the World War II. The commander-in-chief of Myanmar Armed Forces,Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said thatthe Tatmadaw has ensured the stabilityof the country which, in turn, has helpedin democratic transition. He further said,“The Tatmadaw has to be present in aleading role in national politics”. He alsoreiterated that the military will be theupholder of the constitution. 28

PhilippinesUS Instigating Manila, Says China

Chinese Foreign Ministry SpokespersonHua Chunying mentioned thatPhilippines’ action to go against China inthe international court is illegal andunlawful. She continued, “Its(Philippines’) stubbornness is clearly theresult of behind-the- scenes instigationand political maneuvering. China is surelynot going to humour such a politicalfarce.” Clearly she was referring to the USwhile mentioning about instigatingManila. This came as a response against

US diplomat Daniel Russel’s comment that theforthcoming decision by the internationaltribunal on the arbitration case brought by thePhilippines would bring “rules-based” future inthe region. Hua Chunying further mentionedthat US itself is not a part of the UNCLOS, butspeaks about stability in South China Seathrough international law and order.29

Indonesian Sailors Abducted by Aby Sayyafand Later Released:

The Aby Sayyaf group of Philippines hadabducted 10 Indonesian sailors in March andheld them hostages for more than one month.They were released by the end of April,according to sources from the foreign affairsministries of both the countries. Abu Sayyaf isa terror group involved in kidnapping andcollecting ransom for more than two decadesnow. These Indonesian sailors were howeverreleased without paying any money. Thegovernment of Philippines, despite its efforts tominimise the group’s establishment, could notdo much to eliminate them. 30

SingaporeSingapore Signs Paris Agreement onClimate Change

Singapore signed Paris Agreement on climatechange in New York on April 23. Foreign AffairsMinister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan representedSingapore at the signature ceremony. Dr

28 Shibani Mahtani, “Myanmar Military Display Highlights Army’s Continuing Power”, The WallStreet Journal, March 27, 2016, at http://www.wsj.com/articles/myanmar-military-display-highlights-armys-continuing-power-1459057726, accessed on April 19, 2016.

29 “China accuses US of instigating Philippines to go to UN on SCS”, Press Trust of India andBusiness Standard, March 23, 2016, at http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/china-accuses-us-of-instigating-philippines-to-go-to-un-on-scs-116032300903_1.html,accessed on April 21, 2016.

30 Floyd Whaley, “Abu Sayyaf Releases 10 Indonesian Sailors Held Hostage in Philippines”, TheNew York Times, May 1, 2016, at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/world/asia/10-indonesian-sailors-held-hostage-in-philippines-are-released.html?_r=0, accessed on May 9, 2016.

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Balakrishnan delivered the statement atthe ceremony to “affirm Singapore’ssupport and commitment for theAgreement”. He noted that Singaporeranked 123rd in emissions intensity outof 142 countries worldwide, but assuredthat the country

“….will continue to do more”. ”Within thegeographical constraints we face, we willpursue renewable energy in the form ofincreased solar PV deployment. This willsupplement our substantial energyefficiency efforts and other mitigationmeasures to lower our EmissionsIntensity by 36% from 2005 levels, andto stabilise our emissions around 2030.We take our pledge seriously, and willnow turn to making the necessarydomestic preparations to enable us toratify the agreement and to achieve theobjectives under our NationallyDetermined Contributions (NDC)”.31

ThailandThaksin Shinawatra Spoke about ThaiJunta

Thailand’s former Prime Minister ThaksinShinawatra appeared in New York afterseveral years of unknown and lesserknown whereabouts and gave a detailedinterview where he spoke about the Thaijunta and its rule. He mentioned that he

may stay out of Thailand as the Junta hasrevoked his Thai passport and with hisMontenegro passport, he can travel to anycountry except Thailand. During his tenure ingovernment, Thaksin was accused by hisopponents of corruption. However, Thaksintermed his family’s wealth as modest andestimated it at about US$1 billion.32

New Constitution Drafted in Thailand

The Thai Junta has unveiled a proposedconstitution and said that no criticism of thedraft constitution would be accepted. The publicreferendum for the constitution will be held inAugust and followed by that, PM Prayuth islikely to organise the election in 2017. The draftconstitution has a clause for a 250 memberSenate, members of which will be hand-pickedby the Junta and six seats will be reserved forthe defence and police chiefs. Sunai Phasuk ofHuman Rights Watch said,

“We are trying to hold the junta accountableto its own pledge to return civilian democraticto Thailand, but this draft charter is showingthe opposite,… It doesn’t give any promise of ademocratic transition, but rather a prolongedcontrol of the military.”

Prayuth has explained that the militarytakeover is necessary to reinstate order afteryears of political turmoil and to free Thailandfrom corruption and misuse of power. He hasclaimed that the new constitution will supporthim accomplish those ends. 33

31 “Singapore signs Paris Agreement on climate change”, Asia One, April 23, 2016, at http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/singapore-signs-paris-agreement-climate-change

32 Sebastian Loh, “Thaksin says he will ‘never’ give up on Thailand, but is prepared to ‘stay out’,Asian Correspondent, March 10, 2016, at https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/03/thaksin-says-he-will-never-give-up-on-thailand-but-is-prepared-to-stay-out/, accessed on April 18,2016.

33 “Thailand’s proposed new constitution unveiled to the public”, The Japan Times, March 29,2016, at http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/29/asia-pacific/thailands-proposed-new-constitution-unveiled-public/#.VzFvJCGc2Vr, accessed on May 10, 2016.

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VietnamVietnam and China Defence MinistersMeeting

Colonel General Chang Wanquan,China’s Minister of National Defence,paid an official friendly visit to Vietnamfrom March 26 to 28 at the invitation ofhis Vietnamese counterpart GeneralPhung Quang Thanh. Territorial disputesin the East Vietnam Sea/ South China Seawere the focus of discussions between thetwo. Minister Thanh underlined thatMinister Chang’s visit was a greatopportunity for bilateral defencecooperation between the two countries.It was decided that the resolution ofdisputes ought to go in line with legalmodels and principles specified ininternational law, including the 1982United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS). Minister Thanhand Minister Chang also promised tojointly look for fundamental and long-term solutions to disputes approved byboth nations; with strict adherence tomutual agreements and understandingachieved by the countries’ senior leaders;that is, to strictly implement the principlesof the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Vietnam Sea s well astowards the adoption of the Code ofConduct for the sea.34

Top Policeman is now the President

Tran Dai Quang was sworn in as president onApril 2 by Vietnam’s parliament, elevating thehead of an internal security agency to one ofthe most powerful political posts. Quang’sapproval was a formality since he was the onlycandidate put forward by the party’s five-yearlycongress in January. Quang, 59, was a policegeneral who hailed from the Ministry of PublicSecurity, an organization with broad powersand a remit that included intelligence gatheringand thwarting domestic and foreign threats tothe party. A resolution approving Quang’spresidency was backed by 460 of the 465lawmakers who casted votes. He swore hisloyalty to the party and people.35

New Prime Minister of Vietnam

Vietnam’s rubber-stamp parliament on April 7elected Nguyen Xuan Phuc as prime minister.In a formal vote, 446 of the 490 members inthe National Assembly voted to install Phuc,61, as the head of government. Theappointment of Phuc, who rose from governorof the central province of Quang Nam todeputy prime minister five years ago, was amere formality after he was picked at theCommunist Party’s congress in January as thesole candidate to replace Nguyen Tan Dung,who was removed from office on April 6. Phuctakes office at a time when the country iscrippled with soaring public debt, a seriousbudget deficit, China’s territorial assertivenessin the South China Sea, as well as an

34 “Vietnam, China defense ministers meet up over maritime disputes”, Tuoitre news, March 28,2016, at http://tuoitrenews.vn/politics/33984/vietnam-chinese-defence-ministers-meet-up-over-maritime-disputes

35 Martin Petty, “Vietnam parliament swears in top policeman as president”, Reuters, April 1,2016, at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-politics-idUSKCN0WZ037

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unprecedented drought and salt intrusionin the country’s main rice-growing regionof the southern Mekong Delta.36

Oceania

AustraliaFrench Shipbuilder Wins $39 billionAustralian Submarine Deal

French shipbuilder won Australia’slargest-ever defence contract to producea new generation of submarines. Frenchstate-controlled defence contractor DCNSwon out over Germany’s ThysennKruppMarine Systems and Japan’s MitsubishiHeavy Industries to build 12 conventionalsubmarines that the Australian navyexpects will cost at least 56 billionAustralian dollars ($43 billion). JapaneseDefence Minister Gen Nakatani said thatthe outcome was “very regrettable.”Australian Prime Minister MalcolmTurnbull said that the French were “bestable to meet Australia’s unique needs,”but that both the Australian and theJapanese governments “are thoroughlycommitted to the special strategicpartnership between Australia and Japanwhich gets stronger all the time.”37

Regional Agreement to Challenge PeopleSmuggling

Australia signed a landmark regional non-binding agreement to tackle people smuggling,which included recommendations thatcountries should consider alternatives but todetain vulnerable people at a meeting co-chaired by Indonesia and Australia as part ofthe 45-nation Bali process in the Asia Pacific.It was the first time the group had signed adeclaration to tackle people smuggling andtrafficking. The agreement, signed at aministerial meeting in Bali, said membernations were “concerned by the tragic loss oflife at sea, and by the abuse and exploitation ofmigrants and refugees at the hands of peoplesmugglers and human traffickers”. The foreignminister, Julie Bishop, said the agreement wasambitious and would strengthen regionalcooperation and determination to combatirregular migration, people smuggling andhuman trafficking. Although the declarationwas non-binding, it was an advance on previousmeetings since 2002, which had only producedstatements by the co-chairs, summarizing theproceedings.38

Arun Jaitley Visited Australia

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited Australiafrom March 28 to April 2. On his first day inSydney, he inaugurated ‘Make in India’

36 “Vietnam elects prime minister amid China’s assertiveness and worrying budget deficit”, TheIndian Express, April 7, 2016, at http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/vietnam-new-prime-minister-nguyen-xuan-phuc/

37 Rod McGuirk and Raphael Satter, “Australia’s largest-ever defence contract has gone to a Frenchshipbuilder to produce a new generation of submarines, thrilling officials in Paris and inauguratinghalf a century of close defence cooperation between the nations”, USNews, April 26, 2016, athttp://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-04-25/australia-says-french-company-wins-huge-submarine-contract

38 Paul Karp, “Australia signs landmark regional agreement to tackle people smuggling”, TheGuardian, March 24, 2016, at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/24/australia-signs-landmark-regional-agreement-to-tackle-people-smuggling

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News Track

conference where he strongly pitched forforeign investments in India, especially inthe area of manufacturing andinfrastructure. In Canberra, he metAustralian Prime Minister MalcolmTurnbull as he highlighted the potentialof the Indian economy to grow beyondthe current rate of 7.6 per cent and thelarge scope for higher economicexchanges between the two nations.During the meeting in Canberra, Mr.Turnbull expressed interest in cooperatingwith India in renewable energy sectorwhere Australia had expertise. Mr. Jaitleyalso extended an invitation to Mr.Turnbull to visit India. The FinanceMinister also met his Australiancounterpart Mathias Cormann at aluncheon meet.39

New ZealandNew Zealand’s Connection withPanama Papers:

Radio New Zealand, TVNZ andinvestigative journalist Nicky Hager cameout with a joint paper where they showedthat Mossack Fonseca actively describedNew Zealand as one of the most attractiveplace for foreign investment because ofits tax-free regime and other legal facilitiesand the so-called leaked Panama Papershave shown that many Australians haveused New Zealand as their way to dumptheir money through illegal means. New

Zealand Pm John Key mentioned that NewZealand is not a tax heaven and he is ready tomake changes in the tax laws if recommendedproperly. Opposition Labour Party LeaderAndrew Little mentioned the government needsto shut down any system that makes NewZealand a tool in the hands of the globalnetworks of tax avoidance. 40

Papua New GuineaPapua New Guinea Closed Australia MigrantCamp

Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea on April26 ruled that detaining people at Australian-funded Manus island facility wasunconstitutional and illegal as a resultAustralia’s hardline immigration policy wasthrown into turmoil. “Respecting this (court)ruling, Papua New Guinea will immediatelyask the Australian government to makealternative arrangements for the asylumseekers currently held at the RegionalProcessing Centre,” Prime Minister PeterO’Neill said. Papua New Guinea’s formeropposition leader Belden Namah hadchallenged the Manus arrangement in court,claiming that it had violated the rights of asylumseekers. Despite this, Australian immigrationminister Peter Dutton remained adamant thatnone of the 850 or so men held there wouldcome to his country and that the government’spolicy — designed to deter others wanting tomake the risky journey by boat — would notchange.

39 “Jaitley meets Turnbull, talks trade”, The Hindu, March 31, 2016, at http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/union-finance-minister-arun-jaitley-visit-to-australia-jaitley-meets-turnbull-talks-trade/article8416675.ece

40 Charlotte Greenfield and Rebecca Howard, “Panama Papers report alleges New Zealand primeplace for rich to hide money”, Reuters, May 9, 2016, at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-panama-tax-newzealand-idUSKCN0Y000W, accessed on May 9, 2016.

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News Track

“As I have said, and as the Australiangovernment has consistently acted, wewill work with our PNG partners toaddress the issues raised by the supremecourt of PNG,” he said in a statementafter O’Neill’s decision. Canberracurrently has an arrangement withCambodia, along with Papua NewGuinea, to resettle those found to berefugees, although only a handful havetaken up the option. However, O’Neill didnot set a timeframe for the closure.41

Papua New Guinea to File Off icialNational Climate Action Plan

Papua New Guinea filed its new climateaction plan under Paris Agreementclimate change deal, 2015, with the UN,becoming the first country to do soofficially. The Paris Agreement wasunderpinned by a series of voluntaryINDCs from national governments,which set out how they intended to curbemissions and enhance climate resilience.However, with official ratification of theAgreement slated for April at a ceremonyin New York, countries are now requiredto formally lodge their plans with the UN,converting them from ‘intended’ plansinto Nationally Determined Contributionsto the Paris Agreement. “I congratulatePapua New Guinea on this first NDC,”said outgoing UN climate change chiefChristiana Figueres in a statement.

“Before the UN climate change conference inParis, the international community had alreadyenvisioned an unprecedented response withalmost every nation on Earth setting out theirpreliminary action plans to address climatechange. These provide the foundation uponwhich the world will over time strengthen theirability to keep a global temperature rise wellunder 2C if not 1.5C, and build resilient societies.Much more remains to be done but NDCsunder the Paris Agreement represent one of thenext key steps alongside the opening forsignature of the Agreement in New York onApril 22 en route to it swiftly coming intoforce.”.42

Supreme Court Judge Arrested in PNG

A Supreme Court judge in Papua New Guineawas arrested and charged with corruption onApril 11. Bernard Sakora was arrested bymembers of the country’s fraud and anti-corruption squad. After several hours ofquestioning, Mr Sakora was charged with onecount of judicial corruption. The police said thatthe charge was related to a payment Mr Sakorareceived from a lawyer at the centre of thescandal surrounding alleged illegal paymentsto the firm Paraka Lawyers. Mr Sakora failedto declare his interest, and presided over anumber of Supreme Court cases, including thatinvolving an arrest warrant for the PrimeMinister, Peter O’Neill. However, Mr Sakoradenied the charges.43

41 “Turmoil as Papua New Guinea shuts Australia migrant camp”, The Times of India, April 27,2016, at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Turmoil-as-Papua-New-Guinea-shuts-Australia-migrant-camp/articleshow/52010573.cms

42 James Murray, “Papua New Guinea becomes first country to file offical national climate actionplan”, Business Green, march 30, 2016, at http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2452702/papua-new-guinea-becomes-first-country-to-file-offical-national-climate-action-plan

43 “PNG Supreme Court judge arrested, charged with corruption”, Radio New Zealand, April 11,2016, at http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/301223/png-supreme-court-judge-arrested,-charged-with-corruption

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News Track

Attorney-General Ano Pala Arrested byCountry’s Fraud Squad

Anti-corruption police in Papua NewGuinea arrested the country’s Attorney-General Ano Pala on April 12. Ano Palawas picked up and taken in for questioningby PNG’s National and Anti-CorruptionFraud squad at Jacksons InternationalAirport in Port Moresby. Police allegedthat he misused money intended for his

44 Eric Tiozek, “PNG’s Attorney-General Ano Pala arrested by country’s fraud squad over misuseof funds”, ABC News, April 12, 2016, at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-12/png-justice-minister-ano-pala-arrested/7320984

electorate. “The charges related to him abusinghis office and power to apply public fundsearmarked for Rigo District in the CentralProvince for his own use,” Papua New Guineapolice said. “This arrest is a result of ongoinginvestigations involving District ServicesImprovement Program (DSIP) Funds andfurther arrests will be made soon.”44

28

Centre Activities

1. Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh wrote on Significance of the November 2015 Myanmar Electionsin Strategic Analysis, Vol 40, Issue 2, March 2016.

2. Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh wrote on Australia's 2016 Defence White Paper: An IndianPerspective in Journal of Defence Studies, Vol 10, Issue 2, April 2016.

3. Dr. Sampa Kundu wrote on India's ASEAN Approach: Acting East at The Diplomat, April8, 2016

4. Dr. Sampa Kundu wrote on India and the Indian Ocean: A Briefing at The SARCist, April11, 2016

5. A 10-member delegation of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) of Thailand ledby Mr. Vera Urairat, Deputy Secretary General/NSCS visited IDSA on March 2, 2016

6. A delegation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia visited IDSA onMarch 22, 2016

7. Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh spoke on political transition in Myanmar during a Monday morningmeeting on April 11, 2016.

8. Dr. Sampa Kundu spoke on India's Act East Policy in the Air Force Training, organised atIDSA on March 8, 2016.

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The Southeast Asia and Oceania Centre focuses on policy-

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