After a hiatus, the Asian Peace Talks is back with our 9th episode. For this episode, Kishore Mahbubani speaks to one of the foremost experts on Indian foreign policy, Professor Kanti Bajpai, on India's relations with China and Pakistan.

This episode was recorded on May 9, 2025, when the recent India-Pakistan conflict was still on-going.

This discussion assumes particular importance, firstly, in the aftermath of the India-Pakistan conflict, and secondly, in the wake of the October 2024 border agreements between China and India.

Amid a shifting balance of power and mounting transnational challenges, the international order is evidently in transition. But with the great powers at loggerheads, will the Global South succeed in building a new international order that reflects their interests? And can the “hedging” strategies of Global South states succeed in bridging the divides – both amongst themselves and with others – that currently obstruct the international community’s ability to address global challenges? On the heels of the publication of the Better Order Project’s signature report, join the Asian Peace Programme (APP) and the Quincy Institute for a discussion of this strategic issue – and its potential implications for policy areas ranging from UN Security Council reform to the Middle East, to climate security.

In this episode, Kishore Mahbubani speaks with Girija Pande, Chairman of Apex Avalon Consulting Singapore and former President of Tata Consultancy Services Asia-Pacific. The topic for this episode is the economic relationship between China, currently the world's second largest economy, and India, currently the world's fifth largest economy. What are the contours of this economic relationship? And how, in spite of the many geopolitical challenges, can this relationship be further strengthened? These are the broad questions that will be discussed on the podcast today.