‘Increasingly Evident No Single Nation Can…’: India’s Subtle Reality Check To Trump As Rubio Watches

[00:00:00]Thank you.

[00:00:01]Secretary Theresa Lazaro, your royal highness, distinguished ministers, Secretary General of ASEAN, colleagues, uh it is a real pleasure to join you all this morning at Manila.

[00:00:14]Uh let me convey our deep appreciation to the Philippines for its warm welcome and hospitality, and more important for its key role as a country coordinator for building and strengthening the India-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.

[00:00:32]The chairmanship theme, "Navigating our future together," captures the sentiment which many of us feel today.

[00:00:43]The world is extremely turbulent, and it is increasingly evident that no single nation or even grouping can deal with it on its own.

[00:00:54]Let us contemplate the near future and consider how best our cooperation can serve our respective interests.

[00:01:04]In this era of volatility and disruption, the most visible stress is on supply chains.

[00:01:11]Energy, food, and health security can no longer be taken for granted.

[00:01:16]Because we are all so dependent on maritime trade, that too could become a source of anxiety.

[00:01:24]Observing international law in that regard is therefore vital.

[00:01:30]Coincidentally, 2026 is the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.

[00:01:36]It is a timely reminder of what we can do for a more stable and secure future.

[00:01:43]Colleagues, at the same time, both India and ASEAN are optimistic about their prospects.

[00:01:50]Our eyes must therefore be firmly fixed on opportunities, even while addressing challenges, and there are many of them.

[00:01:59]Many of them amongst us and between us.

[00:02:03]The India ASEAN agenda today covers trade and investment, mobility and talent, tech, digital and AI, green and sustainability, as well as connectivity.

[00:02:16]It is only through deeper cooperation that we can de-risk and diversify.

[00:02:22]India and ASEAN have traditionally worked for the welfare of the larger region.

[00:02:28]For India, ASEAN centrality is a key principle.

[00:02:33]One example of the manner of that working is the way in which the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific meshes with India's Indo-Pacific Oceans initiative.

[00:02:45]There are many other domains and examples reflected in activities, numbers, and policies.

[00:02:52]This is a world in transition and India and ASEAN, who account for 2 billion, must navigate it together if it is to remain safe and steady. Thank you.

[00:03:10]>> We're with ASEAN 100%. This is the primary mechanism by which we engage the region and you will continue to see our commitment to it at the highest levels, including with our ambassador who recently came on board and in addition to our ambassador here in the host country, who by the way has done a phenomenal job. Thank you for hosting us. We've fallen in love with your country. I visited here many years ago as a senator, but it's so much more fun to visit as a secretary of state and uh but we appreciate that. I know how much work goes into putting one of these on and you've done a phenomenal job and and we thank you. Um before we get into the other topics, I know there's an area that's on everyone's mind and it's what's occurring in the Middle East and I just want to reiterate once again, the United States is always committed to diplomacy.

[00:03:50]We are open open-minded and always willing to engage negotiated settlements of differences, and that remains true in the case of Iran. Unfortunately, as of now, despite their direct outreaches, and Iran has been reaching out to the United States both directly and indirectly to engage in talks about settling the differences with regards to what's happening in that part of the world. Unfortunately, so far, even though we have reached agreements, they have not kept their commitments. And as the president stated earlier today, I guess yes today Washington time, yesterday our time here now, uh the problem we're having right now is that they're not serious about talks. If they're serious, we're serious. If they're not, then we will do what is necessary to protect that our interest and also the interest of our allies. At its core, it's very simple.

[00:04:33]Iran demands the right, which they do not have under any existing legal mechanism, to control the transit of traffic through the Straits of Hormuz.

[00:04:41]This is an international waterway. And of all the regions in the world, the one I don't need to talk teach about the importance of freedom of navigation in international waterways, it is this region. And if we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation-state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don't pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region. So, what is at stake here is not simply the issue of what's happening in the Straits of Hormuz. It's a very fundamental principle about freedom of navigation.

[00:05:17]And if that is threatened, then I think the global economy is threatened, and the rules which have underpinned 150 years of international trade and commerce are also threatened, and that cannot be allowed to happen. But as I said, the United States remains open and willing to engage in positive constructive negotiations and talks so long as the commitments that are made are kept. And when those commitments are not kept, which is what's happened in this particular case, then there will be consequences. And that has to happen. If these consequences did not exist, then today we would be living in a world where the significant percentage of the energy supply of this region and 20% of the energy supply of the world is being held hostage by a nation state, by a rogue regime who intends to appropriate that in the right of tolling and controlling that shipping to itself, a right they do not have under any definition of international laws, particularly those that govern maritime transit.

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