India, July 6 -- India's diplomatic map is being redrawn in real time, and New Delhi is placing itself firmly at the centre of an emerging Indo-Pacific security and economic architecture shaped by China's rise, America's recalibration, and regional anxieties.

In the Point Blank conversation, Executive Editor Shishir Gupta underlines a key shift in Asia's balance of power: the India-Japan partnership has moved from "strategic trust" to "strategic convergence." This convergence is anchored in a shared vision of a "free and open Indo-Pacific," where the South China Sea is not treated as China's exclusive domain but remains open to all navies and commercial shipping.

Beijing's reaction to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's visit to In...