Page 11 - ICWA Newsletter English April-June 2021

INDIAN COUNCIL SAPRU HOUSE
OF WORLD AFFAIRS

structure and agreement on priorities. Clearly,
priorities are being defined by national interests,
challenging the emergence of a consensus around
the strategic and economic purpose of the Indo-
Pacific. As one author argues, the announcement of
the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) by the USA
led, within the ASEAN, to the announcement of the
AOIP (or the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific),
one that remains neutral on the choice between
China and the supporters of FOIP.

Yet, the Indo-Pacific does provide an opportunity
for India to reset relations with states like Vietnam
which are charting a somewhat different path
vis-à-vis the security objectives of the QUAD. On
the positive side is a long history of support for
Vietnam’s war in the 1960s and 1970s, more recent
investments in the energy sector and growing
defence exchanges with a focus on maritime security
and cooperation. The last will likely be of greater
importance in the future, but it calls for greater
effeort since differing positions on both sides
abound, not least in the area of public diplomacy.

Madhu Bhalla
Editor, India Quarterly

ISSUE : 25 | APRIL-JUNE 2021 11