Act East policy

Political map showing India, China, and the Southeast Asian countries

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the India's new government has made its relations with East Asian neighbours a foreign policy priority at a time when the United States has engaged in a 'pivot to Asia'. The Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had proposed a new outlook calling it Act East policy in the line of Look East policy which was introduced during the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao but seriously implemented during the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

Background

From the very beginning the Modi led govt made it ample clear that India would focus more and more on improving relation with ASEAN and other East Asian countries as per India's Look East Policy which was formulated during Narasimha Rao's govt in 1992 for better economic engagement with its eastern neighbours but successive govt later successfully turned it into a tool for forging strategic partnership and security cooperation with countries in that region in general and Vietnam and Japan in particular.[1] In her recent visit to Hanoi, Vietnam Sushma Swaraj has stressed on the need for an Act East Policy[2] that she said should replace India's over two decade-old Look East Policy emphasizing a more proactive role for India in this region.[3]

See also

References

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