Conference Program

The Republic of India is a critical player in the current balance of power that is essential to any comprehensive and coherent analysis of international system and great power politics from the perspective of Global South. Despite significant democratic regression under the Narendra Modi government, New Delhi remains committed to upholding its international image and status as the world’s largest democracy.India is widely touted as an emerging global power that advocates for a multi-polar world order.The study assumes that India has come to be seen as a political and economic partner in Asia that deserves greater attention, not only in terms of its role in the rivalry between the West and China. New Delhi’s interactions with Germany provide an interesting case study. In recent years, German political and business leaders have become increasingly involved in fostering relations with New Delhi, which suggests that German policymakers are laying the groundwork for a long-term strategy towards India.The case study-based examination touches upon key issues related to the international balance of power and allows for a deeper understanding of the rising powers’ perceptions of the liberal order. In this context, the study aims to explore the evolution of India-Germany multi-dimensional relations and contextualise them within both states’ understanding of the regional and global security architecture and the liberal international order with its approach to war/peace, human rights and conflict management.The paper employs a systemic empirical approach and is based on field research conducted in both countries. Methodological approaches include comparative and discursive analysis.

The uncertainty in international relations erupted after World War II. The narrative of western powers shaping the liberal International order (LIO) has risen challenges for which global south has assertive voices by questioning the legitimacy of the liberal international order by reclaiming their sovreignity and redefining security. In this paper we will start by how global south is looking for alternatives on the world stage as they find the current one as paralysed. The opportunities that flushed from USA and China’s rivalry opened up gates for global South and these economies could leverage to gain advantage as this approach shapes their views on LIO. When a country enters a geopolitical bloc ,the agency and sovereignty are the first victims which created a narrative for achieving strategic autonomy. From the geopolitical risks emerged after the Cold War balancing power and threat through trade dependency has created a narrative of anti-globalisation. By dissecting this narrative we will understand challenges that come with the strategic rivalry between USA and China. The western statecraft of promoting partnerships envisioned LIO which raises a question on Global Security Architecture. This paves way for multipolar future to derive an inclusive and equitable world order. This paper concludes by proposing potential scenarios for the LIO evolution by considering factors such as economic pace and emergence of new power structures within the global south.In this dynamic game of thrones, who holds the key to opening gates to inclusive and just international world order by using Bharat as case study.

The economic growth recorded for more than four decades has given China the tools to pursue an active, assertive, or aggressive policy toward its neighbors, including Vietnam, which is particularly evident in Beijing's actions in the South China Sea basin. Given the intensifying great-power rivalry in the region between the United States and the People's Republic of China, pressure from the structure of the international system may result in a shrinking space for hedging, understood as a policy of ambiguity toward the superpowers. In a rapidly changing security environment, hedging may be a privilege that not all states can afford. Using the theoretical approach of neoclassical realism and employing Cheng-Chwee Kuik's model for analysis (which focuses on the implementation of actions with oppositely directed vectors in three areas: economics, politics and military), the author presents that hedging (remaining on the spectrum of balancing - bandwagoning) still remains the strategy with the greatest ability to secure Vietnamese core interests.