India’s Look East Policy

Abstract

The Look East policy has emerged as an important foreign policy initiative of India in the post-Cold War period. It was launched in 1991 by the Narasimha Rao government with the aim of developing political contacts, increasing economic integration and forging security cooperation with countries of Southeast Asia. The policy marked a shift in India’s perspective of the world, with the strategic and economic importance of Southeast Asia to India’s national interests being recognised. The second phase, which began in 2003, extends the coverage of the Look East policy from Australia to East Asia, with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as its core. The new phase thus marks a shift in focus from trade to wider economic and security cooperation, political partnerships, physical connectivity through road and rail links. In this article, the evolution of India’s Look East policy and its recent approach are analysed.

India in the Indo-Pacific

“…India's economic health worsened with growing domestic political instability, and the INC was routed out of power in 1989. A number of short-term governments came to power and used the coffers to finance populist policies (Haokip, 2011).…”

India’s Readiness for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Through the India–Japan Partnership

“…As one of the major power countries, India's foreign policy has important implications for regional trade arrangements such as the RCEP. In 1991, India began to implement an outward-looking LEP under the Narasimha Rao government to enhance economic integration, to build security cooperation and to develop its political network (Haokip, 2011). In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi upgraded this to an "Act East" policy, which is more action-oriented and considers the dynamics of economics and security (Palit, 2016).…”

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“…India had to face violent insurgencies in Punjab, India's Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Pakistan had also grown to become more hostile towards India, which can be noted through its support for militants in J&K (Haokip, 2011). The South Asian region also suffered security and political instability due to various ethnic conflicts.…”