Founding President of the Republic of Seychelles Sir James R. Mancham welcomes SAARPSCO with its global office on the Seychelles

Dear Mr Niebergall

As the founding President of the Republic of Seychelles and the publisher of the magazine Voice of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea I warmly welcome your presence in Seychelles today against the background of your organization's desire to promote and advance global maritime governance and supply chain safety and security throughout our regions.

The Indian Ocean has gradually emerged as a pivotal region in the economic and geopolitical configurations of the superpowers. The geostrategic significance of the region and its increasing relevance to the competitive globalism of the superpowers are primarily the result of the central dynamics of contemporary power politics, which in a multi-polar context have introduced a complex pattern of conflict and competition on economic, political and strategic issues. It is not only the modern military technology that has transformed the world into a single strategic theater, or has integrated all the important areas of the world into the central defence planning of the superpowers, but also the regional geopolitical characteristics, balance of power arrangements and perceptions of vital interests that have largely determined the nature of extra-regional participation in the various strategic subsystems of the world.

The naval presence of the superpowers in the Indian Ocean has generally been explained by reference to their diplomatic and military rivalries in the grey areas of the third world. The assumptions of a ‘power vacuum’ and ‘reciprocal escalation’ have largely influenced the traditional conceptualization of superpowers’ policies in the Indian Ocean region. Although an element of competitive globalism has played a part in the strategic thinking of superpowers, their respective policies, including naval deployments, have been largely responsible for a greater mix of their domestic bureaucratic policies, regional events and primacy of national interests.

Today the big powers are certainly engaged in an intriguing political chess game in the area. The Americans who replaced the British when they took the decision to pull out of East of Suez, have built what is regarded as one of their most important naval-airbase on the island of Diego Garcia. Initially, India and the Soviet Union were in the same camp of protesters concerning the American decision to replace the British in the zone. These two Nations vociferously adopted the policy of Indian Ocean Zone of Peace – but the Soviet Union is no more and India is in “bed” with the United States where defence matters are concerned and they jointly watching the game China is playing as she increases her economic and political influence in Africa and the Zone.

Within the framework of this greater picture, there is today the menace of Somali pirates to international shipping; the sad political divison in Madagascar as the big island discovers more and more mineral wealth and Rio Tino invests 500 million US$ in the development of a modern port; there is the waking up of Australia with respect to her Indian Ocean potential; there is the increased importance of the import and export trade of African Nations to and through Indian Ocean ports; there is the importance of the tuna fishing industry and the growing tourism developments with many 5 star hotels and resorts in operation or in stages of construction; and of course there is the penetrating econonic influence of the rich Arab Gulf Nations as they invest more and more in the South.

There is no doubt that the magazine "Voice of the Indian and the Arabian Sea" is one whose time has come. It appears that both VIOAS and SAARPSCO are in the right place at the right time.


Best regards

Sir James R. Mancham, KBE
www.jamesmancham.com