Archives Indo-Pacific region - Page 5 of 6 - New Eastern Outlook

The annual US-Philippine military exercise Balikatan began on 22 April and will continue until 10 May. Originally planned as a relatively small and bilateral exercise, in recent years it has become the largest of those conducted by the United States in the Indo-Pacific region with the participation of one or more of its allies…

The Indian leadership’s foreign policy has traditionally been characterised by a multi-vector and independent foreign policy, intolerance of any external pressure or imposition of foreign recommendations and advice. New Delhi can afford such an independent foreign policy, given India’s status as a major Asian power, its claim to a certain global role and its self-confidence as the world’s third largest economy. And no major power would dare dictate its terms to India, knowing that such an action would inevitably be met with rejection…

The “ASEAN-Australia Summit” was held in Melbourne on 4-6 March this year and was dubbed “special” because it was the 50th since its inception. It should be noted that Australia was the first external partner since the founding of this association in the late 1960s of the last century, which now includes all (except Papua New Guinea) of the countries of Southeast Asia. The three days of events culminated in the adoption of the lengthy (11-page) “Melbourne Declaration – A Partnership for the Future”. In one way or another, the document touches on almost all the major issues…