Indian Council of World Affairs

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is celebrating 75 years of its establishment in 2024, it finds itself grappling with new and emerging challenges in an ever-evolving security environment. Underlying the changing nature of the challenges before it, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in his speech at Keio University, Japan (February 2023) stated, “We may be oceans apart. But our security is closely connected. And we share the same values, interests and concerns.”[i] He further stated, “ (in) today’s world, security is not a regional matter but a global one. Europe’s security affects Asia, and Asia’s security affects Europe … (NATO) works hand in hand with our partners in the Indo-Pacific on our shared security concerns.”[ii] For NATO, partnerships with like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific are an important and growing aspect of its objectives to address global challenges and common threats, which includes climate change, cyber security, protecting infrastructure and supply chains and combating terrorism. The hybrid nature of emerging conflicts, the increasing use of cyber attacks along with the use of rhetoric and disinformation against Member States, is posing problems for the Alliance. As the Alliance looks to enhance its role in addressing contemporary global challenges which no longer fall into the category of traditional security threats but have consequences for the security of the Member States, it is increasing its cooperation with its Indo-Pacific partners, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. This has resulted in the four nations participating in the NATO Summits since 2022 (Madrid NATO Summit). In July 2024, they participated in their third NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., where practical cooperation between Member States and partners in the Indo-Pacific was further enhanced, including through the launch of new flagship projects in the areas of support to Ukraine, on military healthcare as well as cyber defence, countering disinformation and technologies, such as artificial intelligence.[iii] This builds on years of ongoing dialogues between NATO and its partners on means to enhance mutual situational awareness of security developments. The Alliance has also boosted its visibility in the Indo-Pacific region. In a first for the organisation, in 2022, NATO observers attended regional military exercises in the Indo-Pacific. Acting in their national capacities, NATO allies, such as France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom have increasingly participated in large-scale military drills with Asian partners and dispatched naval vessels to high-profile waters, including the South China Sea, amid rising tensions between China and its neighbours.[iv] The Alliance monitors and addresses potential spill-over effects for Member States of tensions in the Indo-Pacific and collaborates with partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region to address the threats. 

This paper highlights two developments that have led NATO to work closely with its Indo-Pacific partners in the recent past. 

NATO’s Engagement with Partners in the Indo-Pacific 

It needs to be stated that, NATO is an Alliance partnership between Europe and America and will remain so. However, it has also realised that the centre of gravity in international politics, economy, military and technology has now shifted to the east and rests very much in the Indo-Pacific. With this realisation, the Alliance is making efforts to understand the needs of the Indo-Pacific nations and how changes in the stability and security environment will effect trans-Atlantic relations. Within the Indo-Pacific, its primary focus remains in strengthening cooperation with its Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. The four countries are also Alliance partners of the United States, a NATO member. With the other countries of the region, the NATO members are deepening cooperation through bilateral, multilateral and/or minilateral forums. 

A primary reason for the increased attention from the Alliance to the region stems from the Ukraine conflict. With the Alliance firm on its support to Ukraine, it is now looking at the support being provided by countries, such as China and North Korea, to Russia in the ongoing conflict. The Alliance has stated that this support is critical for Russia’s continued offensive and hampering peace efforts. The recently concluded NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., highlighted, “The PRC continues to pose systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security … (and) the deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order are a cause for profound concern.”[v] The Alliance members have continued to call on China to stop its support to Russia while China has claimed that NATO should not interfere in its internal politics, and its economic relations with Russia are legitimate and based on WTO rules. 

The second aspect that is leading to NATO to strengthen its ties with its Indo-Pacific partners is the global nature of challenges to security. NATO Allies face threats and challenges from both state and non-state actors who use hybrid activities to target political institutions, influence public opinion and undermine the security of NATO citizens. Hybrid methods of warfare – such as propaganda, deception, sabotage and other non-military tactics – have long been used to destabilise adversaries.[vi] The Alliance is taking the help of its Indo-Pacific partners to build its understanding of the security complexities in the region and share expertise and information about global issues that affect security and stability outlook of the Alliance. NATO is building political dialogue and practical cooperation across priority areas, including non-proliferation, cyber defence, science and technology, counterterrorism, interoperability and defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents.[vii] The focus is on increasing situational awareness and NATO’s ability to counter hybrid threats to its Member States that may emerge from other regions including the indo-pacific.[viii]

Challenges to NATO in the Indo-Pacific

While the Alliance is looking for continued support from its Indo-Pacific partners, cooperation is as yet limited, and the Alliance is not in a position to address regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. Firstly, the Alliance treaty provisions clearly define the areas in which it can take military action, limited to North America and Europe, which makes it difficult for the Alliance would be willing and able to take on a military mandate in the region. Secondly, the countries of the region apart from the NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners are likely to be cautious in building their engagements with NATO given regional geopolitical realities. Currently, each of the four Indo-Pacific partners has signed Individually Tailored Partnership Programmes (ITPP) with NATO to identify the areas of mutual bilateral interest for potential cooperation. For example, Japan and NATO are focused on cyber and maritime security, while South Korea is focused on non-proliferation and arms control, and Australia and New Zealand are focused on increasing interoperability. 

Conclusion 

NATO’s outreach and partnerships in the countries in the Indo-Pacific region are premised on the tenet of indivisible security and the recognition of the inter-connectedness of global security in general, and European and Indo-Pacific security in particular. The Ukraine conflict has its reverberations in Indo-Pacific peace and security and NATO’s partnerships in the region are reflection of that. NATO’s approach to the Indo-Pacific is likely to expand its partnerships in the region and further strengthen the existing ones.

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*Dr. Stuti Banerjee, Senior Research Fellow, ICWA.
The views expressed are personal.

Endnotes

[i] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, “Speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Keio University,” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_211398.htm?selectedLocale=en, Accessed on June 26, 2024.

[ii] Jens Stoltenberg, “What NATO Means to the World: After 75 Years, the Alliance Remains Indispensable,” Foreign Affairs 03 July 2024, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/europe/what-nato-means-world, Accessed on July 26, 2024.

[iii] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, “Relations with Partners in the Indo-Pacific July 16, 2024,” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_183254.htm, Accessed on July 26, 2024

[iv] Mathieu Droin, Kelly A. Grieco, and Happymon Jacob, “Why NATO Should Stay Out of Asia,” Foreign Affairs, July 08, 2024, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/why-nato-should-stay-out-asia, Accessed on July 26, 2024.

[v] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, “Washington Summit Declaration July 2024,” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_227678.htm, Accessed on July 26, 2024.

[vi] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Countering hybrid threats,” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_156338.htm, Accessed on 31 July 2024

[vii] The White House, “Fact Sheet: United States Welcomes Growing Contributions to Global Security from NATO’s Indo-Pacific Partners,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/11/fact-sheet-united-states-welcomes-growing-contributions-to-global-security-from-natos-indo-pacific-partners/, Accessed on July 30, 2024.

[viii] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, “Countering hybrid threats,” https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_156338.html, Access on 02 August 2024