China-U.S. Big Power Rivalry, ASEAN Divisions & India’s Challenges

NEW DELHI: On ‘Talking Point‘, Dr Pooja Bhatt, Independent Scholar, and Author, ‘Nine Dash Line: Deciphering the South China Sea Conundrum’ and Dr Premesha Saha, Fellow, Strategic Studies Programme, ORF whose research focuses on Southeast Asia, East Asia, Oceania and the emerging dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region, Indonesia’s maritime strategy, India and Southeast Asia, India’s Act East Policy and Asia-Pacific multilateralism in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi. The panel discusses the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cambodia, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar at the 19th ASEAN-India Summit, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Plus meeting and the first India-ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting, India’s ‘Act East’ policy, the Indo-Pacific, the BrahMos deal with the Philippines as a potential precursor to other regional defence co-production and sales, a flurry of U.S. visits to the region, including those of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S.-China talks, ASEAN centrality, ASEAN divisions, South China Sea disputes, a Code of Conduct that is being negotiated and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra’s Myanmar visit.