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Australia must work with regional partners to push for a stronger international framework to distinguish between these situations and hold those responsible to account.
For its part, Australia’s recently established Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre, an investment of AUD 18 million (USD 11.9 million) over four years, is a laudable start and is seen as a contribution to the Quad’s efforts in this area. But this commitment alone is not enough.
What is needed is a comprehensive Indo-Pacific regional cable protection framework, developed in collaboration with Southeast Asian and Pacific partners, to harden undersea infrastructure against escalating geopolitical threats.
This framework should include the establishment of cable protection zones in the Indo-Pacific region and other measures to ensure the integrity of this critical infrastructure. The lack of strong cable protection regimes in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, for example, highlights this urgency.
The Baltic incident should serve as a wake-up call, not only for Europe, but also for Australia and its Indo-Pacific partners. The region’s heavy reliance on undersea cables, coupled with strategic instability in the South China Sea, should provide an impetus to address gaps in digital infrastructure protection frameworks.
This is not just about preventing harm; it is also about ensuring that when harm occurs it is dealt with quickly, accurately, and with strict accountability.
Cynthia Mehboob is a PhD student in the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University. First appearance On the Lowy Institute blog, The Interpreter.
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