The South China Sea: Geopolitics

Panelists: Admiral H.C.S. Bisht, PVSM, AVSM, former Flag Officer; Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command and former Director General, Indian Coast Guard; presently Administrative Member, Armed Forces Tribunal, Chandigarh; and Commodore R. Seshadrivasan, Director, Chennai Center of China Studies, and Regional Director, National Maritime Foundation, Chennai Chapter

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Indian Society of International Law; Distinguished Fellow, Symbiosis University  

The South China Sea (SCS) located in the Western Pacific Ocean with an area of 3.5 million sq. kms is one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. SCS also contains some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and is the site of inter-state disputes primarily because People’s Republic of China (PRC), although a signatory to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas), has violated its provisions in many ways. China is only one of the littoral states, along with Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Since a rule-based order is of utmost importance for humanity, India, United States, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, have insisted that PRC should abide by the UNCLOS.