IDSA to host Asian security meet

New Delhi: The Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a capital-based strategic think tank, will host another edition of the Asian Security Conference, which will study the changing face of conflicts in the Asian continent.

The conference, which has "The changing face of conflict and evolving strategies in Asia" as its theme, is slated for 3-4 February and is due to attract a galaxy of national and international security experts.

Defence minister AK Antony will inaugurate the conference and deliver the inaugural address, according to IDSA director general NS Sisodia.

The region is marked by underlying rivalries and unresolved territorial disputes and a host of non-traditional and trans-national challenges, he said.  "Given the uncertainty of the evolving security environment, the strategy of the key players in Asia in dealing with multiple challenges facing them needs to be studied and hence the conference," he added.

According to an IDSA concept note there is now a general acknowledgement that though Asia is becoming the new centre of gravity in international politics, it is also true that the present juncture represents a period of uncertainty.

The note points out that interests of five major powers – those of the predominant United States, a resurgent Russia, a rising China, a normalising Japan, and an emerging India – intersect in Asia. Four of these countries possess nuclear weapons and Japan not only enjoys the protection afforded by the American nuclear umbrella but also has the necessary capabilities to go nuclear once it decides to do so.

Though peaceful relations prevail among these powers potential sources of conflict lie beneath the surface in the form of unresolved territorial disputes and national and geopolitical rivalries.

Security experts from the US, UK, West Asia and other Asian strategic think tanks will discuss issues related to the region.

Strategies of powers such as China, India, Japan, Russia and US would be looked at, based on the understanding that the manner in which their strategies fundamentally interact determine issues of war and peace and contours of the international order in the coming years.

Since 1999, when the conference was first held, the ASC has emerged as an important platform for debating issues relating to Asian security. For the last ten years, the ASC has been providing a forum for security analysts, ministers and diplomats from around the world to share their views on the challenges facing the Asian continent.

This is the eleventh in the series.