 I turn now to Mr. Narayanan. You have the floor. Narayanan. Excuse me for the pronunciation. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I feel particularly privileged to be present on this occasion because I think of all the continents, perhaps Asia is the one racked with the largest number of rivalries. Before I take up the subject proper, may I echo what Ambassador Lee said about Monziathiri and its remarkable effort in putting together the 14th edition of Global Governance. It is, I would say, a most magnificent effort, but I'm sure that Monziathiri and his team, SNK, have done a great job. Thank you very much, Ambassador Therifor, for what you've done. As is aware from what the previous speaker said, there are many more rivalries in Asia other than the one between the US and China. Some are much longer standing in many ways, but each of them are important for the future of Asia and perhaps to some extent for the future of the world itself. We have seen some of them turn into bitter wars, Vietnam earlier, Afghanistan more recently. But under the surface, I would like to say that each of the rivalries have the potential to turn into major conflicts. And I think the subject is particularly important for every nation of the world, apart from those in Asia, to ponder over and try to arrive at certain basic tenets as to how to overcome the situation. Before moving over to Sino-US rivalry, let me use the issue from an Indian perspective. For India, there are two major conflicts, two major rivalries that affect its future. The Sino-Indian rivalry and, of course, the India-Pakistan tensions and conflicts. We had thought that after many years of intense bickering and conflicts, we had reached a plateau as far as Sino-Indian tensions were concerned. But in the course of the last 18 months, we have seen a flare-up of the Sino-Indian tensions with the Chinese unprovoked aggression in the Galwan Heights in Ladakh. And it's obvious, therefore, that China will never allow any of its neighbors to live in peace. I will revert to that a few minutes later. But there's another 400-pound gorilla in the room, the India-Pakistan conflict. And that, again, has an unending saga of conflict and tensions, resolutions, et cetera. So the basic issue that India-Asia conference is a series of conflicts. We've heard Ambassador Lee and others talk about other issues. But if I might say so, I would say that from the point of view of world peace, the China-Taiwan conflict and I would say the Sino-Indian conflicts are perhaps the ones with the maximum potential for a worldwide configuration. And I think it's important that this conference deals with some aspects of this. The point I would stress is that there are a few pointers to what exactly China wants other than dominant over Asia as the first step in dominating the rest of the world. And I think we should flag this point. Otherwise, as I said, there was no reason in the spring of 2020 for China to have done what it did in the Galwan Heights. Therefore, I think checkmating China's ambitions or expansion's ambitions is crucial for the future of Asia, if not the world. I would sense that we need to be clear what exactly Sino-U.S. rivalries want. Is it to checkmate China alone or is it that the U.S. does not wish to have another nation confronting its, what I would say, being the number one power in the world? All that I would like to say is that the fact that China is a common factor in most conflicts in Asia and perhaps in other areas as well reminds me, at least I hope the audience will go along with this, of Francis Fukuyama's warning that the new global strategic threat comes not from Islamic terror but from China. I think we should heed this. The world must accept this innate wisdom because I think it contains a lot of important ideas for the world. Talk of Sino-American rivalry should factor this aspect into calculation and not see it as a mere rivalry between China and the United States. It encompasses the rest of the world as well. On this point, let me strike a jarring note. It's all very well to talk of U.S.-China rivalries. But if the United States is keen to checkmate China's expansion's ambitions, is it willing to go the whole way? There have been periods in the past when the United States has talked of checkmating China. We have seen the pivot to Asia towards the end of the century. But as each U.S. administration changes, there's a change in attitudes, there's a change in perspectives, there's a change in objectives. And therefore, we have seen the United States receiving many Asian countries which have lined up with the United States being caught off the wrong foot while China keeps going ahead, expanding its ambit of authority and power and moving further and further afield. So when we talk of Sino-U.S. rivalry, and I would like this audience to really say how far will the United States be willing to go? Are we going to see the Biden administration do what Barack Obama said? What my good friend Hillary Clinton said about the pivot to Asia, et cetera. We need an objective. I'm very clear in my mind. I live in Asia. I've dealt with China for the better part of nearly 50 years in my official and semi-official capacities. I understand China. I have studied Chinese communism. But there's one thing whether it's Chinese communists or Chinese nationalists. China wishes to dominate the world. We may accept that position. We may accept Nostradamus, who thinks that a yellow race will dominate the world. Or we need to start thinking about it. And I think Monzio Thierry and others who have thought of the subject need to look at this point. So I would say that Asia by itself cannot withstand China. India is about the only country in this region which has the capacity to stand out to China. But what China has done by virtue of its so-called strategic impediments, Belt Road initiative, et cetera, is to confuse the rest of Asia and tell them that we are offering you so much in terms of economic and other. And in the process, as we heard yesterday, they've taken over large parts of territory across the world. They have more or less kept many countries of Asia completely sort of in their thrall economically and otherwise. And as we saw in Afghanistan, for instance, many Asian countries require western involvement to even protect the democratic traditions that they've been used to. So I think I'm running short. But I just want to ask this question because I think it's a little jarring. Is the United States willing to bite the bullet? Will they walk the talk? We don't want another repeat of what happened in 1999, 2000, 2001. The concerns that many people have about China are real. But given the historical events of recent decades, Vietnam may be in the past but Afghanistan is right there just a few weeks back. So can we expect the United States to do something or not? Or are we going to just talk about it? We'll talk in these fora and whatnot. People are now talking of the Quad. India is a part of the Quad. But Quad is a blue national grouping. It's not really a security. And I've been part of many of these discussions. I don't really think that the Quad is capable of putting its shoulder to the wheels to put it. Then now you've got AUKUS. It's AUKUS going to be. We've seen many other groupings of this kind. But ultimately it's a matter of resolve. It's a matter of resolution. And I'm convinced that somehow the American people are not ready to sort of pay the penalties for what they have to do if they wish to take off. My good friends in the British did that much more. So just one minute more. And I therefore say that what we require is a display of determination by the United States. Because if the United States is not present in the conflict, Sino-US rivalry will then finally dissipate after everything. So the Chinese will have everything that goes that they want to have. How do we implement these plans? We've already seen the brouhaha that has taken place about AUKUS, what has AUKUS done in France, the Step Bank, et cetera. We want a clear, determined effort on the part of the free world to really come forward and say can we prevent Chinese expansionism, which is the biggest shadow over Asia. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your presentation and for having reminded us that there is not only the rivalry between the US and China in Asia, plus what you have said about the US and what you expect, maybe a more cautious US behavior in the future.