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EAM Jaishankar flags 'sharpening of tensions' on territorial issues across Asia amid China's rise

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 12/6/2021 1:51:21 PM

Abu Dhabi, Dec 5 The consequences of China's rise and its growing capabilities are "particularly profound", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday as he flagged the "sharpening of tensions" on territorial issues across the breadth of Asia with Beijing's actions raising a question mark on the "agreements of yesteryears". Speaking at the fifth Indian Ocean Conference - IOC 2021 in Abu Dhabi, Jaishankar also said that in a globalised world it is vital that freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce are respected and facilitated. Noting that a number of developments have taken place that have direct bearing on the well-being of the Indian Ocean region, the minister said that two developments - the changing American strategic posture and the rise of China - have influenced the evolution of the Indian Ocean in recent years. "Since 2008, we've witnessed a greater caution in US power projection and an effort to correct its overextension. It may have taken different forms and been articulated in very different ways but there's larger consistency over three administrations that they themselves may not readily recognise. It is expressed in footprint and posture, terms of engagement, extent of involvement and nature of initiatives,” he said. Overall, the US is moving towards greater realism both about itself and the world. It is adjusting to multipolarity and rebalancing and re-examining the balance between its domestic revival and commitments abroad, he added. "The second major trend is the rise of China. Even otherwise, the emergence of a power at a global level is an extraordinary happening, that this is a different kind of polity enhances the sense of change. The USSR may have borne some similarities, but it never had the centrality to the global economy that China has today.