The UP Asian Center in partnership with FACTS Asia hosted the closed-door roundtable “India in a World of Asymmetrical Multipolarity” on 27 February 2024, at the Seminar Room, GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

The roundtable was attended by leading experts from the academe, security sector, think tanks, and representatives from both the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine government. Multipolarism of India’s foreign policy, deterring China’s revisionist ambitions, and the viability of pragmatic partnering over traditional alliance building were among the recurrent themes in the discussion. It opened possible alternatives for Philippine policy makers and scholars in dealing with the current strategic environment.

The main speaker, Dr. Jayannath Panda, Head of Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) described India as Asia’s’ “distinct emerging power and encouraged the attendees to establish more robust interactions with India’s diplomatic community and society. Articulating India’s vision in the current global order, he explained that the convergence of the country’s domestic undercurrent, land and maritime geography, and the clash of interest with China were the determining components of India’s national foreign policy strategy. Their implementation is illustrated by the range of forums they spearheaded (i.e. quad, mini, and trilateral), aimed at both expediting its national interests and mitigating the “China challenge.”

One of the main the driving factors of India’s positioning in an asymmetric multipolar world has been the China challenge. Dr. Panda tagged China as a “revolutionary revisionist power, with the aim of changing the status quo to dominate the regional order. He further underscores India as an “evolutionary revisionist power,” with no ambition of changing the status or achieving regional dominance.

With the country’s distinct democratic rule and governance and a multi-aligned foreign policy strategy, Dr. Panda suggested the possibility of India becoming a regional security provider, given the similar experience in dealing with an assertive China over their borders.

Dr. Panda also discussed the need for economic deterrence in the post-pandemic era to pressure China. India’s new supply chain networks established with Australia, the European Union, and Japan exemplifies this approach. India’s withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was a testament to its uncompromising stance in realizing its core national interests.

The discussion was further enhanced by the participants’ questions. Dr. Panda reiterated India’s approach of multipolarism over multipolarity for equal division of power and distribution of responsibility among its security partners. Prioritizing pragmatic transactional partnerships over the traditional western model of alliances have enabled India to maintain technological partnerships with Quad-members even with the acquisition of Russian oil to supply its domestic energy demands. He further noted that India has also learned from the Philippine’s South China Sea experience. Combining a deep understanding on China’s way of negotiations while implementing a whole-of-government approach in dealing with its border security issues.

The event was moderated by Prof. Herman Joseph Kraft of the UP Department of Political Science and with UP Asian Center Dean Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr. delivering the welcome remarks. Closing the discussion, Prof. Kraft noted that the roundtable’s rich intellectual exchanges have clearly shown an increased appreciation and importance of engaging India in today’s asymmetrical multipolar international order. He observed that India’s foreign policy, while primarily designed to counterbalance China’s hegemonic ambitions, prioritizes pragmatic strategic partnerships over traditional alliances. To this extent, Prof. Kraft suggested that Filipino policymakers, diplomats and scholars can learn from India’s experience to find alternatives in dealing with its own regional environment. Read more about the roundtable.

MORE PHOTOS FROM THE ROUNDTABLE

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The Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The UP Asian Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. It also offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. As an area studies institution, the Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.