Singapore spearheads 17-nation underwater infrastructure defence framework

It covers six areas of cooperation, including information-sharing and crisis response.

Singapore has led the launch of the Guiding Principles for Underwater Infrastructure Defence Exchanges (GUIDE), a cross-regional defence framework covering the security of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI).

The framework brings together 17 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, and Southeast Asia, covering subsea telecommunications cables, oil and gas pipelines, and power cables — infrastructure that carries over 95% of the world's internet and data traffic.

Singapore's Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing said that the waterways are also home to infrastructure connecting energy and telecommunications grids, warning that "any disruption on one part of the network is a disruption on the entire network."

Under GUIDE, signatory defence establishments have committed to six areas of cooperation, including dialogue and exchange of best practices, awareness of international law and norms, inter-regional information-sharing for maritime awareness and early warning, technical exchanges and expert workshops, incident and crisis response coordination, and broader promotion of the framework to other stakeholders.

The framework is voluntary and non-legally binding, and does not create new obligations under international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Civilian authorities and private operators retain primary responsibility for CUI, with defence establishments playing a supporting role through assets such as ships, aircraft, and unmanned underwater vessels.

Chan said the countries involved "may not have all the answers" but are committed to establishing international norms to build, maintain, and protect underwater infrastructure.

GUIDE was endorsed by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

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