Trump's stroking of Xi and talk of a G-2 with China is vexing Asian middle powers Japan and India.

Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 45 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests.

In this episode, Ravi hosts two experts on geopolitics – Prof Tomohiko Taniguchi, former foreign policy adviser to the Shinzo Abe Cabinet in Japan, and Dr Sanjaya Baru, geoeconomist and media adviser to the late Indian PM Manmohan Singh.

They both explain what their respective countries make of the spectacular welcome President Donald Trump gave President Xi Jinping in the Sept 23-25 summit that took place in Washington DC.

They also discuss the evolving nature of Japan's and India’s bilateral relationships with the US, including talk of ‘derisking’ from Washington.

Highlights (click/tap above)

1:30 Was the carpet ‘red’ enough?

5:30 Key takeaways from the summit

9:30 Is Xi bending Trump’s ear on Asia?

14:00 ‘De-risking’ from the US is on

18:40 Free and open Indo-Pacific, Quad

22:30 Middle East conundrum

Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP

Follow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor

Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz 

Host: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani & Amirul Karim

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

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