EAM S. Jaishankar meets Foreign Ministers of Philippines, Russia & Singapore in Manila

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar's diplomatic engagements in Manila on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July 2024 represent a significant moment in India's Act East Policy and its evolving role in Indo-Pacific geopolitics. The meetings with Foreign Ministers of the Philippines, Russia, and Singapore were not merely routine bilateral interactions but strategic conversations reflecting India's multi-vector foreign policy in a region increasingly defined by great power competition, maritime disputes, and non-traditional security challenges. To understand the context, we must trace the evolution of India's engagement with ASEAN and the wider East Asia region. The 'Look East Policy' launched in 1991 under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was transformed into the more proactive 'Act East Policy' in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasizing not just economic integration but also strategic, security, and connectivity dimensions. The East Asia Summit, established in 2005, and the ASEAN Regional Forum, founded in 1994, are the two premier ASEAN-led mechanisms for regional dialogue. India is a founding member of EAS and has been part of ARF since 1996. These platforms allow India to engage with all major powers — the US, China, Russia, Japan, Australia — alongside the ten ASEAN members, making them critical for shaping the regional security architecture. The meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov carries particular weight. India-Russia relations, rooted in the 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation and reinforced by the 2000 Strategic Partnership Declaration, have weathered global upheavals. However, the Ukraine conflict since February 2022 has introduced complexities. Dr. Jaishankar's raising of "strong concern regarding the safety of Indian nationals recruited by the Russian Army" highlights a pressing humanitarian and diplomatic issue. Reports indicate that several Indian citizens, lured by job offers or misled by agents, were recruited into the Russian military and deployed in conflict zones. This touches upon the Government of India's responsibility under Article 21 of the Constitution (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) and its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) to protect citizens abroad. The Ministry of External Affairs has been actively pursuing the discharge and repatriation of such nationals, and this high-level intervention underscores the seriousness with which New Delhi views the matter. It also reflects India's ability to candidly address sensitive issues with a strategic partner — a hallmark of 'special and privileged strategic partnership'. The engagement with the Philippines is equally significant. Manila is a key ASEAN claimant in the South China Sea disputes and a treaty ally of the United States. India-Philippines relations have deepened considerably, marked by the 2022 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation and the 2024 delivery of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles under a $375 million deal — India's first major defence export. This aligns with India's vision of a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific, articulated at the 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue. The meeting in Manila likely reviewed progress on defence cooperation, maritime domain awareness, and cooperation in multilateral forums like the ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus). Singapore, as India's largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN and a key node in the Indo-Pacific, remains a cornerstone of India's Act East Policy. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2015) covers fintech, cybersecurity, green economy, and skill development. The Jaishankar-Vivian Balakrishnan meeting would have reviewed the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) outcomes and explored new frontiers like digital public infrastructure (UPI-PayNow linkage) and semiconductor supply chains. Collectively, these meetings signal India's intent to be a net security provider and a voice of the Global South in the Indo-Pacific. They reinforce the principle of 'ASEAN Centrality' — a cornerstone of India's regional diplomacy — while demonstrating India's capacity to balance relations with competing powers. For competitive exam aspirants, this episode illustrates the interplay of constitutional duties (protection of citizens abroad), statutory frameworks (Emigration Act, 1983; Citizenship Act, 1955), foreign policy doctrines (Act East, SAGAR, Panchsheel), and institutional mechanisms (EAS, ARF, ADMM-Plus, Quad). Future implications include deeper defence-industrial cooperation with ASEAN, enhanced coordination on maritime security, and continued diplomatic efforts to safeguard Indian nationals in conflict zones — a growing challenge in an era of hybrid warfare and irregular migration. In sum, the Manila engagements are a microcosm of India's 21st-century diplomacy: principled, pragmatic, and multi-aligned, rooted in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam yet responsive to realpolitik.