{
  "id": 9305597,
  "title": "India’s new P4M middle-power group enters a crowded field",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/indias-new-p4m-middle-power-group-enters-a-crowded-field",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T09:30:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3368506/indias-new-p4m-middle-power-group-enters-crowded-field"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "India has become a founding member of the Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) group, a new multilateral initiative that brings together a diverse array of middle powers. External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar co-chaired the inaugural P4M Summit during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Jaishankar warned that the global order is facing significant stress due to geopolitical tensions and conflicts.\n\nThe P4M initiative, co-sponsored by India, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, and Kenya, aims to build coalitions across divides amid rising geopolitical polarisation. Members plan to collaborate on issues such as UN reform, supply chain resilience, trade, finance, emerging technologies, and climate change. According to Swaran Singh, a former professor of diplomacy, India's participation in P4M offers it strategic autonomy by allowing it to forge issue-based coalitions without being confined to either Western or non-Western blocs.\n\nThe group's diverse membership includes European, Asian, African, Latin American, and Pacific actors, which Singh believes creates valuable diplomatic space for countries like India seeking to diversify partnerships while avoiding alignment with competing blocs. In his speech, Jaishankar highlighted several pressing issues, including climate action, emerging technologies, development finance, counterterrorism, and supply chain resilience. The inaugural summit indicates India's continued push for multilateral reform, particularly within the UN Security Council, to enhance representation for the Global South.\n\nFor the P4M group to deliver tangible results, Farwa Aamer, director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute, emphasizes the need for early wins and sustained commitment, particularly in climate action and UN reforms. Uday Chandra, a professor of political science, notes that middle powers are increasingly becoming entangled in great-power rivalries but prefer supple coalitions that can be recombined issue-by-issue on various topics such as trade, supply chains, climate change, AI governance, and international institution reform.",
  "summary": "India has joined a new multilateral grouping comprising a cross-regional mix of middle powers, in a move analysts say reflects New Delhi’s efforts to broaden its diplomatic options as it pushes for changes to the global order. External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar co-chaired the inaugural Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) Summit on Monday, on the sidelines of the United Nations…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}