Indian Ocean should become independent and a peace zone: RW

By Yohan Perera   

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed that Indian Ocean must remain as an independent region while becoming a peace zone.  

Speaking at an event organized by Geopolitical Cartographer, he said Indian Ocean should not be drawn into any conflict over Taiwan, China or South China Sea   

Mr. Wickremesinghe also said the following   

Two situations happen in the ocean and what happens in the Himalayas. These are the two things which will determine the future of Asia. If you go back to incidents of last week, it took place in the Himalayas.   However, what we want is a separate identity for the Indian Ocean. You have to establish it. What happened in the world in the past is that we were ignored. There was Asia Pacific in the past but it had nothing to do with us. If at all, the Indian Ocean was useful as Aircraft carriers of six fleet were there in the Indian Ocean when they bombed Afghanistan or Iran. The rest was out as far as you are concerned. It is not all as the belt itself goes to Europe and the rest. It now goes to Africa. It has gone even to South America and crashed to Panama Canal.    We have no separate identity. We have to build that identity. We have IROA but it is not the strongest of organizations. Now we have become the centre of Global political strategy. One between US and China. What do we do? We got the new concept of Indo Pacific. Where the Indo Pacific ends no one knows. Americans do it halfway through the Western Indian Ocean and the Japanese and Indians have taken it over into Africa. So what are we going to do? Remember that at the Bandung conference that Indian Ocean be treated as a separate entity and as a peace zone. Secondly, this is why go by the Asian outlook in the Indo Pacific. I of course have one issue and that is we were not treated as a part of Asia Pacific. All of a sudden we have got Indo Pacific.