Jagannath Panda was quoted by the South China Morning Post on China, the US, and Middle Powers
August 24, 2026: Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, was quoted by the South China Morning Post on China, the US, and Middle Powers, as well as on Elbridge Colby’s speech in Manila on August 10, 2026.
Jagannath Panda said Colby was signalling that Washington now saw defence cooperation as being conditional on political conformity.
“His dismissal of middle-power coordination further implies that Washington prefers capable partners individually dependent on the United States rather than collectively autonomous,” he said.