South China Sea arbitral tribunal loses its own face by lack of political wisdom: Indian expert

The ad-hoc arbitral tribunal lost its own face in the South China Sea arbitration with the lack of political wisdom, and countries would return to negotiations to solve disputes, an Indian expert said here Monday.

Swaran Singh, professor at School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, said the arbitration unilateral initiated by the Philippines is not a victory even for the Philippines itself, as the newly inaugurated president Rodrigo Duterte had shown little trust in the arbitration.

"If the Philippines doesn't believe it, it will have a very limited role to play," he said.

The Chinese government said the ad hoc arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over relevant submissions, and awards rendered by it are null and void and have no binding force.

Speaking to reporters during a think tank seminar on South China Sea and regional cooperation and development, Singh said the arbitral tribunal lacked political wisdom by not seeking a resolution on the ground.

"The fundamental principle of arbitration is that both parties should submit the case for arbitration, should participate in the arbitration, should give undertakings that the binding outcome will be acceptable to them, which are missing in this case," he said.

"So I think the casualty here is arbitration itself. The trust of people in international relations in arbitration being a solution has been really hit badly by this." Enditem