The Ukraine War: Perspectives & Reactions from Asia

Prof Purnendra Jain

India and Japan's Responses to the Ukraine War

The decade old Japan-India Special Strategic Partnership came under the spotlight with Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. 

While Russia has been a time-tested partner of India, by contrast, Japan has a lingering territorial dispute with Russia and the two nations did not sign a peace treaty after the War ended in 1945. 

In this presentation I consider the contrasting views of Japan and India in relation to the Ukraine war, the reasons behind their different approaches and whether this disconnect will impact the 'special' relationship of Japan with India.

Dr Priyambudi Sulistiyanto

Jokowi's 'Peace Mission' to Ukraine and Russia?

Why did Indonesia's President Joko Widodo pursue a 'peace mission' to Ukraine and Russia? How has he navigated his mission through the political, economic, and diplomatic challenges that have occurred as a result of the Ukraine-Russian war? Has Joko Widodo achieved or failed in his mission or, has he had other motivations?

This short presentation provides some insights into and reflections on these last years of the Jokowi presidency. It will focus on the dynamics of domestic politics and the trends in foreign policy initiatives carried into international forums by Indonesia.

Dr Michael Sullivan

Indo-Pacific Reactions to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine:

The Anglosphere Does Not Speak for Us

The Indo-Pacific consists of multiple diplomatic voices which are hard to generalise and distil down to a few common principles. These range from ASEAN and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the Anglosphere's voices in AUKUS and a fractured Quad.

I argue that of the different Indo-Pacific voices reacting to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 (and the Fourth Taiwan Straits Crisis, beginning 2 August 2022), there is little support for how the US, Britain and Australia frame the invasion as a threat to the western rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. This is not because there is support for Putin's defence of his war of aggression. Rather, there is little support in the Indo-Pacific for privileging Anglospheric descriptions of the threats to regional order in Authoritarianism v Liberal Democracy terms. I argue that this perspective is put most cogently to audiences which hear only dominant Anglospheric talking points by Kishore Mahbubani.