Discuss the strategic implications of India's 'Look East Policy' transforming into 'Act East Policy'. (UPSC CSE Mains 2021 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
India’s ‘Act East’ policy is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different levels. The country’s eastward drive since 1992 has underscored the importance of this region in its contemporary international relations. ‘Act East’ and its early avatar, ‘Look East’ are not different; rather, they are two sides of the same coin, representing two different, but continuing phases in the evolution of India’s policy towards the Asia-Pacific region. When India launched the Look East policy in 1991, its own economic strength, its global status and the external environment were not what they are at present. At the time of its launch, India was struggling to transition from a state-controlled economic regime to a more liberalised one. It took many years for the country to get adjusted to the newly emerging economic environment. When in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Act East policy, India’s economy was relatively robust and its global profile was higher than it was in the decades prior. Modi gave a new thrust to intensify economic, strategic and diplomatic relations with countries that share common concerns with India on China’s growing economic and military strength and its implications for the evolving regional order.
‘Act East Policy’ announced in November 2014 is the upgrade of the “Look East Policy”.
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- The focus of the “Look East Policy” was to increase economic integration with the South East Asian countries and the area was confined to South-east Asia only.
- On the other hand, the focus of the “Act East Policy” is economic and security integration and the focus area increased to South East Asia as well as East Asia.
- The objective of ‘Act East Policy’ is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region by providing enhanced connectivity to the States of the North Eastern Region including Arunachal Pradesh with other countries in our neighbourhood.
- Act East Policy provides an interface between North-Eastern India including the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Association of south-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.
- Act East Policy focuses on ASEAN countries + Economic Integration + East Asian countries + Security cooperation.
The 4C’s of Act East Policy:
- Culture
- Commerce
- Connectivity
- Capacity building
India needs to continue with stepped-up efforts to forge closer partnerships with concerned regional and Multilateral organizations such as ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum, East Asia Summit, BIMSTEC, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, and Indian Ocean Rim Association.
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