The unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic and the aftermath of it has brought to the fore, the unprecedented impact of vulnerabilities and gaps in the global supply chain.In a bid to deal with this, the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative by India-Japan-Australia was formally launched in a virtually held trilateral ministerial meeting in  2021.

Objectives of SCRI:-

• Building a sustainable, resilient and balanced network with partner countries by sharing best practices and utilising digital technology.
• Attracting/redirecting more FDI towards Indo-Pacific by holding investment promotion events for stakeholders.
• Promoting inclusive growth in the region through trade and investment diversification, thereby allowing smaller players like SIDS to grow.

Strategic/Economic rationale behind the SCRI initiative­:-

• Countering China’s dominance– By multisourcing and building a diversified network, utilizing tactics like nearshoring/friendshoring thereby reducing overdependence on China in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Addressing supply chain disruptions– To deal with disruptions due to unprecedented events like natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts which could bring trade to a halt.
• Leveraging Existing Frameworks– Having Risk Management and Continuity Plans and building upon existing frameworks like the ASEAN-JAPAN Economic Resilience Action Plan to avoid disruptions.

Although the SCRI sounds promising having a holistic and extensive plan to move forward is the need of the hour.