Territorial disputes and resource access provide for a fairly volatile mix, according to Mr Peter Varghese, Australian High Commissioner.
He said this while speaking to Business Line recently about the issue of prospecting for oil and gas in South China Sea by rival claimants.
“India, as I understand, decided to withdraw since the blocks it was exploring didn’t look as if they were commercially viable.
“That was a decision taken on commercial grounds and not in response to the border issue with China or any other party involved.”
Mr Varghese said: “But we hope everyone will approach these issues without recourse to force or military action or even a threat of these.”
The fundamental principles of freedom of navigation must be respected by everyone in the region.
“We don’t take a view on competing territorial claims. But we take a firm position on the need to respect international law, freedom in the high seas and freedom of navigation.
“We want to see a framework where competing territorial claims can be resolved through the process of negotiations and, if necessary, arbitration.
But that requires obviously the consent of all parties. Mr Varghese alluded to a code of conduct being negotiated between the Asean and China. “It’s a good thing and we hope there will be an agreement and everyone will abide by that.”
EAST TIMOR ISSUE
Australia had had a similar issue with East Timor but it negotiated an arrangement for gas extraction in a disputed boundary area.
That was good example of how you can deal with competing territorial claims in a resource area.
“We basically agreed that we jointly develop the resources, and concluded a sharing arrangement which provides for a much bigger proportion of resources to East Timor. “We’re not peddling that as a model for everyone to follow but the point is that we managed to do it peacefully through negotiations. And that’s the key thing,” Mr Varghese said.