Regional experts to discuss South China Sea issue

Scholars and security experts from eight countries will gather in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss peace and stability in the South China Sea as well as Asia Pacific and ASEAN unity and regional power engagement and also Indonesia’s role in maintaining peace in the region.

The one-day gathering is jointly organized by CASS-India, a leading think tank in the subcontinent, Indonesia’s Institute of Defense and Security Studies (IODAS) and the Institute for Maritime Studies (IMS). Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto will act as the keynote speaker.

“The main purpose is to raise awareness about the South China Sea issue. We hope this seminar will provide sufficient opportunity to debate and discuss new alternative ideas to bringing peace and stability to the region,” CASS-India director A.B. Mahapatra said at a press conference on Wednesday, explaining why an outside power like India, a non-claimant country, was organizing an international seminar on the South China Sea in Indonesia.

As a regional power, Indonesia, which is also a non-claimant country, is well-placed to play a key role in maintaining unity, stability and security in the region.

“Indonesia must play a key role in building the necessary stable regional-security architecture to maintain a balance among the interests held by outside powers in the region,” IODAS director Connie Rahakundini Bakrie said. (lfr)