Global Affairs is proposing a multibillion-dollar Indo-Pacific strategy that would shift Canada’s reliance away from China by diversifying trade and investment in Asia, the Pacific Rim and beyond while boosting security and international assistance contributions to the region.

The federal plan, which is costed at $3.5-billion over five years, has been circulated within the top levels of the bureaucracy over the past few weeks, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the proposals.

GUEST: Elliot Tepper, Distinguished Senior Fellow with Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University