US 'intrusiveness'

Noting that the initiative calls for a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security model of mutual respect, openness and integration, Ong said this is particularly the case for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as East Asia following intensified moves by the United States to drive a wedge between China and its neighbors in the region.

For example, the US has engaged in saber-rattling by deploying warships in disputed zones under the pretext of "freedom of navigation operations", purportedly upholding the rights, freedom and lawful use of the sea, Ong said.

He also said the US has ramped up efforts to create a de facto Asian NATO, "following the activation of the QUAD and the inception of AUKUS, which could contribute to escalating security threats and make existing challenges more intractable".

He was referring to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between Australia, Japan, India and the US, and the trilateral defense partnership between the US, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Talat Shabbir, director of the China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, said the GSI is sorely needed.

"It was obvious as the international arena echoes with unprecedented disorder after the US retreated from its global responsibilities," he said, noting that the GSI can be contextualized with the world having been embroiled in crisis after crisis for the past two decades.

In particular, he said a "new Great Game" is at its peak in Asia as the region has become an arena for the great powers, and there are many border clashes going on.

"Amid these security challenges, the six commitments of the GSI are a welcome step," Shabbir said, adding that he wants to see more concrete plans to implement the initiative.