In this episode, Happymon Jacob and Walter J. Lindner (German Ambassador to India) discuss the implications of the German government’s new policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific region. Starting with the curious timing of the announcement of the strategy, in the midst of the Indo-China standoff at the LAC, they discuss the opportunities & challenges in the Indo-Pacific region before shedding light on how Germany seeks “to promote the ‘enforcement’ of rule-based order in the region”. While acknowledging that the strategy is a ‘break from the past’ the ambassador asserts that the new policy guidelines are not designed to take sides, but intended to support and initiate multilateralism.