17 Countries Launch GUIDE Framework for Cross-Regional Defence Cooperation on Critical Underwater Infrastructure

Minister for Defence Mr Chan Chun Sing (centre) alongside Ministers and representatives from 16 partner countries during the launch of the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges.

Mr Chan delivering opening remarks at the launch of (GUIDE).

17 countries across the Europe, Middle East, Oceania and Southeast Asia regions came together to launch the “Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges” (GUIDE) on the sidelines of the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) today. GUIDE brings together countries with common interests in the security of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) and is an agreement of shared principles and potential areas where defence establishments could collaborate on to enhance CUI security.

GUIDE was endorsed by the following countries (in alphabetical order): Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

The cross-regional nature of GUIDE reflects countries’ desire to work together on shared security challenges that transcend geographical regions. GUIDE is an example of how geography is not a barrier, and that countries can collaborate in flexible, issue-based groupings to shape the rules and norms in emerging domains.

Delivering remarks after the first Ministerial Roundtable, Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, said “… today, the waterways are not just avenues for us to conduct our trade, but underneath those waters are also critical underwater infrastructure that connects our energy grid and our telecommunications grid…”. He added, “any disruption on one part of the network is a disruption on the entire network. That is why it gives us great joy to see so many countries – from Europe to Middle East to Southeast Asia, Asia-Pacific – coming together. We may not have all the answers, but we certainly want to work on these issues together to see how we can establish those international norms to build those infrastructures, maintain those infrastructures, and to protect those infrastructures, deterring those may mean harm to our infrastructure and our way of life.”

More Resources

Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges (GUIDE)