Abu Maathen George (US, DD): We have with us Secretary (East), Joint Secretary (South), the High Commissioner to Brunei and OSD to the Vice-President for this briefing. Without further ado, I hand over the mike to Secretary (East).
Secretary (East): Dear friends, thank you very much for gathering here today for this first briefing on this trip. First of all, I would like to today talk about the three meetings which Honourable Vice-President had. First of all, with Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Haji Abdul Rahman, the Speaker and, of course, you were present at the signing ceremony.
Three main issues that I would first like to flag is that the honourable Sultan of Brunei expressed his interest to be in India once again. So that invitation has been extended to him. As you know, he has visited us three times in the past and each time it has been a very successful visit and we will soon hopefully have him in India. We have excellent relations with Brunei which you all know about. So, these were touched upon very briefly. The three MOUs were signed today, which you have witnessed too, are the MOU on Health Cooperation, the MOU on Defence Cooperation as well as the MOU on Cooperation in Youth and Sports Affairs. As far as these MOUs are concerned, they have been in the pipeline for some time and especially the MOU on defence cooperation.
First of all, Health Cooperation - this aims to establish cooperation by means of pooling our technical, scientific, financial and human resources. Also, to upgrade health care, medical education and research between the two countries. The specific areas that have been identified for bilateral cooperation includes exchange of doctors, other professionals and experts; exchange of information on health, medical and health research development; regulations of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics; and to promote business development in these areas and health promotion and disease prevention.
The MOU on defence cooperation is meant to enhance our defence cooperation in various fields. As you know, the naval cooperation exists in quite a good degree already but that is so far in the form of naval ships, whether it’s training of senior military officials and the staff collages and exchange of experience. The agreement seeks to institutionalise this cooperation and the following major areas have been identified. Exchange of visits at different levels, exchange of experience, information, training, trainers etc. Conduct of joint military exercises, seminars and discussions, cooperation between the defence industries of the two countries.
Finally, the MOU on cooperation in Youth and Sports Affairs, that will provide a framework for exchange of sports persons and sports teams, and also sports fitness and physical education, sports facilities, sports training and physical preparation. It will also facilitate an exchange of expertise in coaching, sports talent identification, sports management and administration and exchange of information in the field of youth affairs and sports. Also, science and technology development in sports.
In the field of youth affairs, there is already some collaboration between Brunei and India where delegations have been exchanged for two consecutive years, with the city of Chandigarh in the past and that is going to continue in future. But in the field of sports, it’s because the Crown Prince takes a keen interest in this area. I think they are ready to develop some more areas of cooperation.
As far as follow up is concerned and that is important, a team from Brunei will visit India to follow up on the MOU on defence cooperation, to identify areas which are required immediately and in the medium term and in the long term, after which the work can begin in those specific areas.
In the field of MOU in health cooperation, India would be sending a delegation and that would be to identify how to set up facilities here which can be linked up, for example, through satellites, also diagnostics which is important for Brunei and how to set up an exchange in training of doctors etc with India. So those are some of the areas that were mentioned today but I think there would be much more in this field in the future because each is an area of interest for both of us. And as far as the MOU on cooperation in youth and sports affairs is concerned, there the ambassadors of the two countries would follow up on this. Through the embassies we will put a concrete programme of action for the future, based on what we have signed today.
One other important decision that was taken was to have an investment delegation from India to look at prospects for production of fertiliser in Brunei based on gas as the feed stock which is available in Brunei and for this purpose a specific team will have to come from India, look at possible sites, also availability of gas, quantities of gas which are available. The terms of investment, rules and regulations and after that, of course, it will be a business decision which will have to be taken. But both sides are interested in this collaboration as well.
There was also discussion, which was related to the e-tourist visa for Brunei nationals. As you know Prime Minister had mentioned this during his address to the ASEAN in Kuala Lumpur some weeks ago. But the government of India has decided to extend the e-tourist visa scheme to the nationals of Brunei Darussalam and we are taking steps to operationalize this decision in the following weeks. The target is March 1, 2016. So that’s as far as the three main agreements are concerned.
There were a number of issues that were discussed, both regional as well as international, and the first issue that was touched upon was the problem of terrorism. How technology has been used or misused as far as the spread of terrorism is concerned and the importance which should be attached to cooperation in this sector for an exchange of information, use of information technology and cooperating with ASEAN as a larger group in this area. Also, the issue of South China Sea came up for discussion and both sides were on one page on this, that this issue should be solved peacefully through negotiations. The Brunei side briefed us on the evolving discussions on the code of conduct on South China Sea which are taking place between ASEAN and China.
The third issue that I would like to mention here is a question of the centrality of the ASEAN which came up and we agreed that ASEAN should be the bastion of security, peace and prosperity. And the fact that this is an Asian century puts ASEAN squarely in the middle of this development and that ASEAN is the key to Asia achieving this status in the future.
Our Act East policy came up for discussion as well where the Vice-President briefed his interlocutors on the special push that we are giving to cooperative efforts with ASEAN countries in the future. He also talked about new opportunities that have arisen in India in this context and investment opportunities which have arisen for ASEAN as a whole in India because of developments in the Indian economy.
There was a discussion about developments in the Middle East and both sides here also agreed that there was a need to work together and to monitor these developments. There was also a need to make sure that no religious colour is given to the conflicts that are going on in the Middle East and that they should be solved through peaceful means between the parties concerned - both sides will work towards that to solve those and to work with the countries concerned.
Similarly, as far as the individual developments in countries are concerned one major issue that has arisen as far as Europe is concerned is the refugee problem. And this came up for discussion as well - how this has become a problem as far as certain countries in Europe are concerned and the point was made that they should not give rise to discrimination against any particular religion in the future. So intolerance of religions, refugees and the conflicts in the Middle East figured in these discussions. An invitation has also been extended to the Crown Prince of Brunei. He would like to visit India in connection with sports-related developments in the future and our embassies would be working on his programme in the future. Right now, I don’t have much to say to you so it will have to be all worked out, but he will come to India as soon as that is possible.
The Vice President also had meetings yesterday with the Brunei-India Friendship Association and the Indian Chamber of Commerce and this afternoon he met the speaker, a number of members of the senate here where they discussed about workings of the senate, the comparison with how the Indian parliament works. The Speaker has been extended an invitation to visit us in India to lead a delegation in the near future. This will happen this year itself. So I think I would stop there. If you have any questions you can always ask.
Question: Could you share details of the visit of the delegation from India regarding the fertiliser plant?
Secretary (East): It will be at the working level. It has to done at the level where decisions are normally taken and so it should be a middle level delegation which will have the expertise as well as the power to recommend what should be done in the future.
Question: As you know, Brunei has robust relations with the US, China and Japan. In this context, how does Brunei look at relations with India in its foreign policy calculus? What are Brunei’s views on the South China Sea dispute?
Secretary (East): Well you know as far as India is concerned, Brunei is keen to develop its relationship with ASEAN, with China, with India and with other countries in the region equally. Brunei plays an important role as a country which takes a keen interest in the security architecture of the region and their third plank of this policy is that disputes must be settled through negotiations and by peaceful means. So in this context you talked about the South China Sea, and Brunei is keen that the parties concerned should solve this on this principle on the basis of negotiations which we support as well, and we also support the fact that China and ASEAN should proceed together on the basis of consensus and evolve a code of conduct as soon as possible.
They welcome our role in the region and they want to expand our collaboration. In fact during the discussions which came up, as you know they also appreciated our Satellite Tracking Telemetry Station, which has been set up with cooperation with ISRO here and then there is the role of Indian professionals in Brunei which came up for discussion. The Sultan and the Crown Prince both praised the role of Doctors and Engineers and Business persons who work in this country. So there is the appreciation about the role of India, the role of Indians in this country and we would like to build on that because these are the important steps. We have a solid basis to work on in future and I am sure we can expand this relationship further.
Question: On South China Sea, is there a hydrocarbon angle to it, from Brunei’s point of view as it is also an oil-producing country?
Secretary (East): Well, the main point about all the claimant states in the South China Sea is that they have been discussing this issue in the past on a bilateral basis with the Chinese, and Brunei’s stand has always been that the issue should not be internationalised to the extent that then you go beyond a point where your negotiations can break down; so they have been always pursuing that path. They support the current negotiations on the code of conduct which they feel would automatically result in resolution of the problem which confronts the claimant states in the region. I, of course, would not rule out the hydrocarbon angle because these are unexplored seas and it is not just hydrocarbons, but it is also the safety of communication, freedom of navigation etc. which everybody would like to see resolved in a peaceful manner and Brunei also aspires to do the same. As far as their principles of security architecture are concerned, they have been talking about a balanced security architecture in the region. They are an active player in ARF, ADMM plus and the East Asia Summit and they put their views quite in a forthright manner. They want all the countries in the region to play a role, with ASEAN playing the central role in the process.
Question: What about the visit of an investment delegation from India to Brunei? When can we expect it?
Secretary (East) : We would try and facilitate that as soon as possible. There are already some ongoing discussions on this issue and as soon as some companies can be put together that will be worked out - may be in the next few weeks it should be organised.
Question: Currently, India-Brunei trade is focused on hydrocarbons. Is there a plan to diversify bilateral trade?
Secretary (East): Well, we certainly would like trade to grow and diversify because as you know, a major component of this trade is the imports of hydrocarbons from Brunei into India. Prices of hydrocarbons have gone down, so therefore the total value terms, if you look at the trade it seems it has gone down a little bit, but in actual terms it has perhaps gone up because you are keeping up to the same level in value terms, and obviously we are doing something much better than the previous years. So, I am sure this trend is going to continue and now that we are looking at other areas as well.
Question: As you said, oil prices have fallen steeply, and it has impacted Brunei’s economy. Will Brunei’s financial situation impact economic collaboration and other agreements with India in any way?
Secretary (East) : Well, I think there was a general discussion about the fact that hydrocarbon prices have fallen down, and therefore Brunei does face that difficult situation as far as balancing the budget etc is concerned. But I think the competent people in the Senate are looking at it and they will, I’m sure, will do their best to have a balanced budget. Now I wouldn’t actually mix the two issues because the MOUs that we have signed today are collaborative MOUs. If you look at either the MOU on defence cooperation or health cooperation or youth affairs and sports affairs, there are areas which both sides need to do in any case and all the issues are not necessarily those which involve a lot of financial commitment. Some issues have been in the pipeline or we have implemented some parts of it, so it is already there in some form. This time around, we put them together under major headings to give it some concrete shape, thrust and direction and to make sure that they work properly. So, I would say that we need not mix the two issues. I am sure this collaboration will continue at its own pace.
Question: Brunei has extensive defence cooperation with the UK. Will this in any way have a bearing on Brunei’s collaboration with India in this defence sector?
Secretary (East): Well I think, you know each country has its own space as far as the collaboration with other country is concerned and the UK has its own areas of cooperation. But in terms of the East Asia Summit context, I think India is an important player in the region. We have been collaborating and we have been helping many countries, and they have also helped us in return. We have had a number of programmes that have been very cooperative, collaborative especially in the field of disaster management, for instance. We have learned a lot from each other. We have done some very important exercises in the region. Brunei is a very important part of those exercises. They have benefited from our ship visits as well where they search and rescue at sea and manoeuvres which help both sides. So, we are going to continue with that, and I think we have our own niche areas where we can collaborate with Brunei.