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Puneet_Kumar
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The pandemic has upended many certainties. But it has reinforced one major trend in global politics: The rise of Asia. While the global economy crashed in Twenty-Twenty, economies such as Vietnam and China grew. A number of Asia’s open societies have shown us how to successfully contain the virus. And without the leading vaccine exporter, India, the world will not beat the pandemic. As an exporting nation, Germany has long observed Asia's rise through the lens of economic opportunity. However, that falls short of the mark today. At the end of the day, the region's rise has created three Asia's. There is the familiar Asia of business open, dynamic, interconnected. However, there is also an Asia of geopolitics, with ever-starker nationalisms, territorial conflicts, arms races and Sino-American rivalry. Lastly, we have an Asia of global challenges, without which fair globalisation and getting on top of the pandemic or the climate crisis are impossible. These three Asias are increasingly at loggerheads. Geopolitical rivalries threaten free trade. The fight against the pandemic is mutating into a systemic competition between democracy and authoritarianism. And frenzied economic growth is fuelling climate change. With these dynamics, the region between the African east coast and the US west coast, the Indo-Pacific, will have a decisive impact on the world's future. For Germany, this means that we must invest more in this region — not only economically, but also politically. To this end, the German government has, for the first time, adopted guidelines for the Indo-Pacific, with which we seek cooperation with all countries of the region For open economies and free trade; for the fight against pandemics and climate change; and for an inclusive, rules-based order. In order to assert these interests, we need the clout of a united Europe. That is why we, together with France and the Netherlands, have commenced work on a European strategy for the Indo-Pacific. The strategy is set to be in place by the end of the year, and the EU foreign ministers will begin consultations this month. Such a European strategy for the Indo-Pacific must take all three Asias into account. The strategy takes its lead from the Asia of business — the EU and Germany are already well-positioned here. Europe is a key trading, technology and investment partner for many countries of the region. Germany alone now conducts one-fifth of its foreign trade with the countries of the Indo-Pacific, and millions of jobs depend on this.