Trump Triggering Global Shifts, India In Better Place To Manage New Asia: Former Singapore Foreign Minister Yeo

Donald Trump’s return to the White House is accelerating changes in the global order already underway, former Singapore foreign minister George Yong-Boon Yeo said in New Delhi on Tuesday, arguing that the world is now firmly moving towards a multipolar system and that India is relatively well positioned to manage the transition.

Delivering the 43rd C.D. Deshmukh Lecture at the India International Centre (IIC) on January 14, Yeo said Trump was not creating entirely new trends but accelerating existing ones, particularly the decline of US dominance and a shift towards regional power centres.

“Trump is dramatic, but he is also honest about one thing — the US is overextended,” Yeo said, adding that his focus appeared to be on consolidating American power closer to home rather than sustaining its global role.

Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran chaired the lecture. External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his wife, Kyoko Jaishankar, were in the audience, along with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, German ambassador Philipp Ackermann, former finance minister P. Chidambaram, diplomats, and senior officials.

US Retreat And Europe’s Dilemma

While speaking about Trump’s foreign policy, he said it pointed to a US retreat into its own hemisphere, with Washington becoming less willing to bear the costs of protecting allies worldwide.

“The US is overextended, and Trump knows it,” he said. “His instinct is to consolidate, not expand.”

This shift, Yeo said, had unsettled European leaders, who were now being forced to think about their own security. “Europe understands it can no longer assume automatic American backing,” he said, adding that this would lead to more independent and, at times, selfish decision-making by European states.

In Taiwan, Yeo said Trump’s comments suggesting the issue was ultimately China’s decision had sent shockwaves across East Asia. “For Taiwan, it was a thunderbolt,” he said. “They believed the US would always stand behind them.”

India And China: Lower The Temperature

Speaking on India-China relations, Yeo said both sides appeared to have realised that prolonged tension was not in their interest. While the 1962 war still shapes Indian public opinion, he said it does not carry the same emotional weight in China.

“China is cautious because it knows a serious conflict with India will hurt its own interests,” he said, adding that Beijing prefers stability on its borders. At the same time, it deals with economic and demographic challenges at home.

Yeo also pointed to China’s control over key rare earth materials as a major factor shaping US-China ties. These materials, he said, give Beijing significant leverage in strategic industries, including defence and advanced technology, and have forced Washington to rethink its approach to confrontation.

Recalling his travels through Bihar in the early 2000s, Yeo said that despite the state’s reputation at the time, he could already see signs of change. “The fields were greener, the shops fuller, and there was a sense that things wanted to grow,” he said, adding that even under Lalu Prasad, much of that momentum came from deeper social and economic forces rather than from any single leader. 

The former Foreign Minister was awarded India's prestigious Padma Bhushan in 2012.  

“Growth in India is organic,” Yeo said. “Sometimes helped by the government, sometimes held back, but ultimately unstoppable.”