External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meeting the Vietnamese leadership in Hanoi
On Tuesday, 15 Indian envoys flew to Hanoi in Vietnam to participate in a heads of mission conference led by India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
The focus of the conference, which was attended by India's ambassador to China as well, was on the contours of India's larger role in shaping security architecture and additionally to discuss what India can do to reassure the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) who feel vulnerable in front of a dominating China.
Several ASEAN countries have ongoing disputes with China over the maritime boundaries in the South China Sea and they have been urging India to play a bigger role.
Expected to be the balancing power in the Asia-Pacific region, India also has a significant role to play in United States' Asia pivot.
But sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told NDTV that India can balance-out both the Americans and the Chinese by siding with either side on some issues and not on others.
India's decisions would be based on carefully ascertained diplomatic calculations as it is mindful of the intense economic interdependence between China and the ASEAN nations.