India Between Multipolarity And Multipolarism

Impressions from the 20th Asian Security Conference at IDSA March 26 - 28.

- Atmaja Gohain Baruah And Jagannath P. Panda

NEW DELHI. The multipolar reality of the global environment is becoming increasingly visible in Asia where a multipolar political, economic and security architecture is being shaped by regional powers. A significant question then is how will the much talked about Asian century be categorised - by cooperation, competition or contestation?

While China has been at the forefront of pushing multilateralism in Asia and beyond, other countries like India, Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN nations have also been focussing on getting more and more multilateral actors and institutions involved. In this age of diffused power, countries with varying capacities, such as the United States, China, India and Russia, are not seeking to form disruptive relations, but are relying more on forming multilateral connections to acquire additional leverage.

What gives the dialogue of the Asian century a lot of prominence in the changing global environment is the receptivity of the Asian countries to change. While there are differing conceptions as to what constitutes a common space and who dominates it, there is agreement on the necessity of ensuring economic integration for sculpting the future of Asia together. There are both bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for discussing competing agendas as well.

The Asian Security Conference organised by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) sought to discuss the theme of the state of Multipolarism in Asia and the various tectonic shifts that are driving it. This was the 20th edition of the flagship event organised by India’s leading think tank, IDSA, and was aptly titled “Multipolarism in Asia: Issues and Challenges”.

STAKES IN MULTIPOLARISM