5 Conclusion

The report does not provide any direct recommendations, since the intent of the authors has been to provide substantive legal and policy solutions and reflections. We conclude that if India aspires to lead the agenda of global governance in the IndoPacific, it has to be Indo-European and India-based. India can become a neutral power and address the natural risks of the multi-polar global order under its policy ethic of multi-alignment as sought. We understand that middle powers have compulsions and estimating direct correlations of the outcomes of any issuesbased partnerships/alliance is not possible due to the heterogenous global risks, which middle powers like India, would naturally face. We however insist that India must adopt and shape its Indo-Pacific vision, which is not sublimed into any notion of pre-decided alliances with any state. Instead of valuesbased cooperation, which has severe fault lines, and is ideological, unclear and unsustainable, India must cultivate its multialignment policy ethic gradually. We insist that this report, along with the technical report TR-002, can serve as important sources of understanding for future technical reports which would focus on legal and policy solutions related to the IndoPacific. We are of the humblest view that institutional reforms and strategic hedging will help India achieve its goals in the Indo-Pacific construct, and we look forward to future contributions to the issue of India’s contributions and role in the Indo-Pacific, in terms of global governance.