Should Russia’s outreach in Indo-Pacific be a ‘wake-up call’ for Canada?

Russia is not mentioned once in Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy despite its significance in the region, which analysts say is an oversight on Ottawa's part.

Russia’s efforts to strengthen relations with allies in the Indo-Pacific should serve as a “wake-up call” to Canada that China is not the only great power threatening security in the region, foreign policy analysts warn.

Russian President Vladimir Putin raised eyebrows last week by travelling to North Korea and Vietnam and signing multiple agreements with both countries, including a mutual defence pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Putin floated the possibility of sending weapons to Pyongyang in response to NATO’s support for Ukraine, but also spoke of “deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam” while speaking to reporters in Hanoi on Thursday as his Asian tour wrapped up.

Those comments have set off alarm bells in the United States, which is seeking to strengthen its relationships with Indo-Pacific allies like Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries — including Vietnam — to counter China’s influence.

Those same alarms should also be ringing in Ottawa as it pursues its own strategy, experts say.

“It should be a wake-up call for the Canadian government,” said Balkan Devlan, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

“We could learn quite a bit from both Japanese and South Korean allies about the connectivity and the threat that Russia actually poses not only in Europe, but also potentially … to our Indo-Pacific friends and allies.”

The U.S., Japan and South Korea jointly condemned the Russia-North Korea pact in a statement Sunday, saying the agreement “should be of grave concern to anyone with an interest in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, upholding the global non-proliferation regime, and supporting the people of Ukraine” against Russia’s invasion.