Rajnath Singh calls for an Indo-Pacific free from coercion at ASEAN meet, stressing UNCLOS and a rules-based order. India doesn’t name China — but the message is clear.
Brajesh Mishra
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took the stage at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Kuala Lumpur with a familiar diplomatic script: support for a “rules-based order,” commitment to UNCLOS, and a vision for an Indo-Pacific “free from coercion.”
On paper, it sounded like standard multilateral language.
In practice, it was a signal — directed squarely at Beijing.
Singh emphasized that India’s advocacy for freedom of navigation and regional stability “is not directed at any country.” In the semantics of global diplomacy, that line lands only when everyone already knows which country is being discussed. The Indo-Pacific is increasingly defined by China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea, its maritime militia activities, and coercive tactics against smaller Southeast Asian states. India didn’t name China — it didn’t have to.
The setting mattered. ASEAN’s members are stuck between dependence on Chinese trade and anxiety about Chinese naval muscle. Singh stepped into that gap, positioning India as a voice willing to name — albeit indirectly — the core tension shaping the region.
The speech coincided with India and the U.S. formalizing a new 10-year defense collaboration framework, reaffirming alignment despite global trade friction and Washington’s shifting posture under Trump. For India, the partnership isn’t an alliance — it’s leverage. Strategic autonomy remains doctrine, but cooperation with the U.S. is becoming a feature, not a footnote, of India’s Indo-Pacific playbook.
Singh’s messaging wasn’t only about China’s actions — it was about India’s ambition.
India has quietly but steadily expanded its maritime posture:
• Naval deployments into the South China Sea
• Joint patrols with the U.S., Japan, and Australia
• Engagements with Vietnam and the Philippines on defense and energy exploration
• Hosting major Indo-Pacific dialogues and exercising QUAD cooperation muscle
The phrase “collective security” wasn’t generic reassurance. It was a claim that India intends to be a power-center in this seascape, not a bystander anchored to South Asia.
For smaller ASEAN countries — from Manila to Hanoi — that matters. India isn’t just supporting “rules.” It’s offering an alternative pole of security reassurance.
Singh’s voice represents the strategic pivot inside India’s establishment.
Not non-alignment.
Not quiet balancing.
But competitive positioning — calibrated, cautious, and unmistakably firm.
His language — “inclusive,” “sovereignty,” “territorial integrity,” “freedom of navigation” — carries the weight of two realities:
Every major Indo-Pacific power invokes the “rules-based order.”
The contest now is who gets to define those rules.
China says regional stability means accepting its primacy.
The U.S. says stability means countering coercion.
India says stability means multipolar Asia where no single force dominates.
ASEAN listens, nods, calculates — and hedges.
India insists its approach isn’t targeted at any one nation. If India’s Indo-Pacific bet works — and China’s maritime assertiveness is checked — New Delhi will stand as a balancing force, not a junior partner. If not, India risks being pulled into the gravitational orbit of a sharper U.S.–China contest.
For now, one thing is clear: India no longer sees itself as a continental power with ocean access. It sees itself as a maritime power with continental weight — and it’s speaking in a language of calm diplomacy that carries a firm message beneath it.
The subtext of Singh’s speech:
India isn’t naming China because it doesn’t need to. Power rarely speaks loudly when it’s confident people can already hear it.
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