Land connectivity vital for Indian Ocean region: EAM

New Delhi, February 9

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday flagged the importance of lateral, land-based connectivity across the Indian Ocean region.

“These are essential to supplement and complement the maritime flows. That is why the IMEC Corridor to India’s West and the Trilateral Highway to India’s East are so significant. Together, they can be veritable changers connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic,” the Minister observed while speaking at a conference in Perth.

In the maritime domain, Jaishankar wanted nations of the Indian Ocean to reflect on whether they should pursue more collective self-reliance, or remain as vulnerable as in the past because the “challenges besetting the world are on full display there.”

In a swipe at China, he said instability increases when long-standing agreements are no longer observed, without any credible justification to justify a change of stance. Any disregard for arduously negotiated regimes like UNCLOS 1982 is naturally disturbing, he added in this respect.

Earlier, Jaishankar held talks with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.