Article Posted on : - Dec 09, 2011

Defence Minister AK Antony walks with Australian counterpart Stephen Smith before a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. Smith is in India to discuss defencee and security cooperation between the two countries. Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI (PTI): The issue of South China Sea had come up in discussions between Defence Minister A K Antony and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith here Wednesday when they agreed that maritime disputes should be resolved amicably as they can be "causes of misunderstanding".

In the recent past, South China Sea has been in focus after China had objected to any activity there including Indian oil exploration activities.

China has territorial disputes with some ASEAN countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines.

"Maritime security and cooperation, South and East China Sea were part of conversation between me and A K Antony and also with Admiral (Nirmal) Verma and Services chiefs," Smith told reporters here.

The visiting Australian Defence Minister said maritime disputes between two or more countries "need to be amicably solved between the parties involved in accordance with laws and international norms and if they are not resolved, they can be potential for misunderstanding or miscalculation."

Smith said Australia and India agreed there should be free sea lanes of communication for "prosperity and peace and security".

He added the two countries also agreed that regional and international communities should be entitled to take interest in these issues for their amicable resolution because if they are not "handled or dealt with well", they can cause misunderstanding.

Smith made it clear that the views shared by the two countries about maritime disputes are not China-centric as there were several nations and groupings experiencing such issues.

During the meeting, the two sides had discussed the prospects of holding a bilateral naval exercise, regional security issues and piracy.

"Both sides agreed that challenges in the area of maritime security like piracy and freedom of navigation are important issues which required concerted efforts of the global community," Defence Ministry had said in a release.

In the discussions, Antony stressed India was looking forward to develop exchanges with Australia at both bilateral level and in multi-lateral fora such as the ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting Plus.

The Defence Ministry had recently made it clear that it was not keen on hopping on to any multilateral security construct in the region excepting those under the UN flag or ADMM plus rejecting the suggestions of a trilateral security arrangement between India, Australia and the US.