Publication Year: 2021

Eastward Ho? India’s Relations with the Indo-Pacific

Abstract: Eastward Ho? analyses India’s relationships with the countries lying to its east. It explores India’s ‘Look East Policy’ launched in the early 1990s, later renamed ‘Act East’ in 2014. Against the backdrop of deepening intra-Asian economic integration, combined with security tensions and rivalries, both related to the economic and strategic rise of China, this volume asks: What are India’s relationships like with countries to its east, and what are its challenges, possible roles and options?

Parts I and II study the political and economic consequences of the growing Asian integration; the evolving Asian ‘security architecture’, today’s buzzword for institutions and processes; China’s ever-changing perceptions of India; and India’s emerging relations with Japan and Korea.

Part III studies India’s economic and strategic relations with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and focuses on India and China’s tussle for influence over the Himalayan states of Nepal and Bhutan. Part IV concludes the discussion by analysing India’s evolving relations with Southeast Asia, namely Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.