Venue: Wrocław University of Economics and Business  ul. Komandorska 118/120, 53-345 Wrocław, Poland (and online)

The 15th Asia-Pacific International Conference (Strategic Autonomy in a Multipolar Indo-Pacific: Trade, Security and the Reordering of Global Value Chains) takes place during a period of significant change in the Indo-Pacific economic order. The EU–India Trade Agreement, signed in January 2026 after nearly two decades of intermittent negotiations, illustrates these wider changes without encompassing them. The Agreement was concluded under pressure from US tariff policy, China’s growing strategic assertiveness, and the weakening of the WTO; in this respect, it is an instrument of open strategic autonomy. Brussels and New Delhi sought to reduce structural dependencies and to diversify their economic partnerships in a multipolar setting. It was paired with a separate EU–India Security and Defence Partnership, covering maritime security, cyber resilience, and defence-industrial cooperation. Trade policy in the Indo-Pacific can therefore no longer be examined in isolation from questions of security, technology, and foreign policy.