I. Key general developments in the region

Chapter:

4. Armed conflict and peace processes in Asia and Oceania

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2022

Author(s):

Ian Davis

Nine countries in Asia and Oceania experienced active armed conflicts in 2021 (two more than in 2020). These consisted of three in South Asia, namely Afghanistan (major internationalized civil war), India (low-intensity interstate border and subnational armed conflicts) and Pakistan (interstate border and subnational armed conflicts that when combined amount to high-intensity violence), as discussed in section III; four in South East Asia, namely a major armed conflict in Myanmar and low-intensity subnational armed conflicts in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, as discussed in section IV; and a new low-intensity interstate armed conflict in Central Asia between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as discussed below.¹ After a significant decline in total conflict-related fatalities in the region in 2020 (compared to 2019), the situation was reversed in 2021 with a 59 per cent increase (compared to 2020). This was largely due to a rise in fatalities in Afghanistan prior to the war ending, a large increase in fatalities in Myanmar following the military coup in February 2021 and a spike in violence in Pakistan (see table 4.1).