17 countries, including Singapore, launch framework to protect critical underwater infrastructure

SINGAPORE: Seventeen countries, including Singapore, launched on Saturday (May 30) at the Shangri-La Dialogue a framework to protect critical underwater infrastructure.

The countries, which are from Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Southeast Asia, launched the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges (GUIDE) that aims to bring together nations with common interests in the security of critical underwater infrastructure such as subsea telecommunications cables.

Countries need to work together to establish international norms to build, maintain and protect critical underwater infrastructure, and take to task those that mean harm to them, said Singapore's Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing.

He was speaking at the launch at the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top defence summit that is held in Singapore.

The GUIDE is an agreement of shared principles and potential areas where defence establishments could collaborate to improve critical underwater infrastructure security, Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a news release.

It is voluntary, non-legally and non-financially binding, and does not create new legal obligations nor prejudice existing rights and obligations under international law.

Countries that endorsed the GUIDE framework were: Australia, Brunei, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

The cross-regional nature of GUIDE reflects countries' desire to work together on shared security challenges that transcend geographical regions, said MINDEF.  

"GUIDE is an example of how geography is not a barrier, and that countries can collaborate in flexible, issue-based groupings to shape the rules and norms in emerging domains," it added.

Mr Chan said: "Today, the waterways are not just avenues for us to conduct our trade, but underneath those waters are also critical underwater infrastructure that connects our energy grid, our telecommunications grid."

He added: "We don't want a situation whereby such critical infrastructures are disrupted and all of us get the negative knock-on effect ... any attack on one part of the network is an attack on the entire network. 

"Any disruption on one part of the network is a disruption on the entire network, and that is why it gives us great joy to see so many countries - from Europe to the Middle East to Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific - coming together."

Global communications networks depend on subsea cables, which carry more than 95 per cent of all internet and data traffic under the ocean. States also rely on subsea energy transmission infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines, as well as power cables.

But recent incidents involving cuts or damage to subsea cables have underscored the vulnerabilities of the critical underwater infrastructure. They also showed the difficulties in responding outside of territorial waters.

The defence establishments supporting GUIDE are exploring potential areas of cooperation, such as through inter-regional information-sharing to issue early warnings, organising expert exchanges on critical underwater infrastructure security, as well as exchanging points-of-contact to improve potential incident and crisis response.

The broader regional and international community can also participate in GUIDE, said MINDEF.

"Singapore is heartened by the support received and looks forward to working with our partners to find practical ways and develop follow-on initiatives to implement the various areas of cooperation outlined in GUIDE," it added.

ASEAN DEFENCE MINISTERS' BREAKFAST 

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Chan and the Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr co-hosted a breakfast for their Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts.

In attendance were Brunei's Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi Bin Haji Mohd Yussof; Cambodia's Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defence Lieutenant General Rath Dararoth; Indonesia's Vice Minister of Defense Air Marshal (Retd) Donny Ermawan Taufanto; Malaysia's Minister of Defence Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Bin Nordin; Thailand's Minister of Defence Lieutenant General (Retired) Adul Boonthamcharoen; and Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang. 

"The ministers reaffirmed the importance of international law and norms in the region, particularly the right of transit passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and underscored their commitment to keep international airways and waterways open and safe for the free flow of trade and supplies, including the Straits of Malacca and Singapore," said MINDEF.

UNCLOS is a set of rules governing the world's oceans. It allocates rights and legal authority to states, and establishes regulations for the peaceful use of the sea and its resources.

The defence ministers also reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN centrality and how the bloc can contribute to regional peace and prosperity.

MINDEF said: "The ministers affirmed the value of the Shangri-La Dialogue in enabling ASEAN Member States to engage defence and security officials from around the world."

During breakfast, the leaders discussed how militaries from ASEAN and ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) countries can train and exercise together, particularly in response to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Mr Chan told reporters that the conversations during breakfast were useful and open.

"It was very organic. We discussed and shared perspectives on how we read the geopolitical picture, of how the big powers are relating to one another, and also how, as smaller countries, as ASEAN, as a group, how we relate to the bigger powers," he said.

"We discussed how we need to make sure that we keep our region open, free, accessible and secure. 

"This is not just about the shipping lanes, but also about the airways, so that we can continue to retain our reputation as an attractive investment location for us to get those investments and create good and better jobs for people."

Mr Chan also noted exchanges on non-conventional security threats. He added that the ministers suggested holding a meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue every year. 

Mr Chan also hosted a ministerial roundtable on Saturday afternoon, where leaders spoke about securing public support and political commitment for long-term investment in defence.

"When we talk about long-term investment, it's not just about the budget commitment, but it's also about committing good people to serve in the defence sector, and how we build up our industrial capacity over the long term, because in the business of defence, it is a long-term business," he said.

Another topic of discussion was the geopolitical perspectives of countries of different sizes and how they look at the world.

The leaders also spoke about the technological and operational transformation in the area of warfare.

"We also talked about how we need to build trust that as we increase the defence expenditure, we must also correspondingly increase the effort to reassure one another, so that it doesn't lead to a situation where I try to increase my sense of security at your expense, causing you greater insecurity," said Mr Chan.