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Why South-east Asia, with China worries, sees India more favourably as a strategic partner
Pragmatic as always, Asean’s favourite choices for hedging partners amid US-China rivalry remain the European Union and Japan, but attention has also shifted to India
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Many respondents in the ISEAS State of South-east Asia survey saw India's military power as a possible asset for global peace and security.
PHOTO: AFP
Sharon Seah
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After decades of peaceful economic cooperation, a tectonic geopolitical shift starting with a low-boil US-China trade war four years ago has now developed into moves to decouple the world’s two largest economies, amid calls for “China containment”.
In this region, if the results of the latest ISEAS State of South-east Asia survey are anything to go by, concerns over China are accentuated while India is being seen in a more favourable light. The annual survey of the region’s thought leaders takes a pulse on South-east Asia’s responses to the rapidly changing geopolitical environment and Asean’s views of its major partners.
