 "'It's the Asian century,' says former UNSC president Kishore Mahbubani | Raisina Dialogue 2025")
Asia’s influence in the world is growing with India on its way to reaching the top spot. The world is witnessing an “Asian century” as economic power shifts rapidly from the West, said Kishore Mahbubani, a senior fellow at the Asian Research Institute and a former president of the UN Security Council.
Talking to Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) at Firstpost’s IdeasPod as part of the annual Raisina Dialogue organised by ORF in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Mahbubani said, “The world is psychologically preparing for the Asian century. Data shows very clearly how economic power is shifting rapidly. If you compare China to the US in the year 2000, the US was eight times bigger than China. Today is 1.5 times bigger. In the year 2000 again the UK was in the top five. Today India is in the top five and the UK falling out of the top ten.”
Calling Asia’s emerging power the continent’s “return”, Mahbubani said that during his conversations with various American political scientists, many said that the next world war would happen in Asia and that “Asia’s future will be Europe’s past.”
“But we’ve had a long piece, 46 years of no major wars in Asia. And by contrast, you see the Yugoslav wars, the Ukraine war, the wars are happening on the fringes of Europe. So Asia is getting some things right,” he said.
‘ASEAN is the most diverse region on earth’
Highlighting the membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mahbubani called the bloc “most diverse”.
“ASEAN is by far the most diverse region of planet Earth. Among the 700 million people, you have 250 million Muslims, 115,000,000 Christians, 115,000,000 Buddhists, Mahayana Buddhists, Yayana Buddhists, you have Taoists, you have Confucianists, you have Hindus, and you’re lots of communists in Southeast Asia. There’s no other region in the world that is as diverse as Southeast Asia,” he said.
Being the most peaceful and prosperous corner of the world, ASEAN has registered more economic growth in the past decade than the European Union did, he added.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts‘Want India to join’
Mahbubani, a Singaporean diplomat, said that the country, one of ASEAN’s founding members, has opened the doors for India to join the bloc.
“We wanted India to join. The door is always open for India
to come and join,” he said.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
