‘Authentic’ Multilateralism and the Stigmatisation of ‘Small Circles’: China, India, and the Contestation over Institutional Design

This article explores the contestation over institutional design between China and India as a crucial barometer of fragmentation regarding the conceptualisation and practice of multilateralism. With respect to conceptual framing, the article focuses on China’s promotion of ‘international discourse power’ in terms of the advocacy for an ‘authentic’ multilateralism. With respect to practice, the article shifts the examination of the contest over the nature of institutions away from the vertical ‘rising/revisionist’ hierarchically contextualised challenge (externally from the Global South), with specific reference to the China–United States rivalry, to the horizontal competition (internally within the Global South) located in the China–India relationship. At odds with older images of a common legacy-driven Bandung spirit, the focus is on the negative side of a competitive dynamic. On the one hand, the article analyses the scope and intensity around Chinese stigmatisation of India’s ‘small circle’ activities. On the other hand, the article privileges the range in the repertoire of India’s responses, from non-response to deflection, counter-stigmatisation, and validation. The article analyses this contest across a wide range of institutions, including G7 outreach to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), and the G20.