INDIA’S ACT EAST ENGAGEMENT: FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA TO THE INDO-PACIFIC Rahul Mishra The Act East Policy, launched in 2014, has been lauded as one of the most successful foreign policy initiatives of the Narendra Modi government. It has bolstered India’s eastward engagement and facilitated its comprehensive institutional engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its several multilateral mechanisms. Its contributions to strengthening India’s diplomatic footwork in the region have been numerous—both at the bilateral and multilateral levels. Over the past six years of the Modi government, India’s eastward engagement has acquired a new dimension. A critically important aspect of the expansion of the Act East Policy has been the drafting of the vision for the IndoPacific order, which places the ASEAN at its core. India’s eastward engagement is characterised by an exchange of high-level visits, the elevation of relations, the signing of agreements, engaging in dialogue on issues of mutual interest, and shared concerns with likeminded countries. The emerging Indo-Pacific construct has given an opportunity to India and its friends to cooperate in the Southeast Asian region and beyond for maintaining the strategic equilibrium and preserving a rules-based order. In this context, this paper attempts to explore the central tenets of India’s eastward engagement in the emerging Indo-Pacific order, manifested in the Act East Policy. UPGRADATION OF THE ACT EAST POLICY In 2014, the Look East Policy was revised and upgraded to become the Act East Policy. When the Modi government assumed power, the first official announcement in this regard was by former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit to Vietnam in August 2014. She stated, “Now it is time to not just look but act. 78
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Under the [Narendra] Modi government, we will have an Act East policy.”1 Modi spoke of the Act East Policy during his participation in the ninth EAS held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, in 2014. He stated, “Since entering office six months ago my government has moved with a great sense of priority and speed to turn our ‘Look East policy’ into ‘Act East policy.’”2 When Modi came to power in 2014, he announced the Neighbourhood First policy to reset ties in the neighbourhood and prioritise relations with countries in the South Asian region. The transition from the Look East to the Act East Policy was also about reinvigorating ties with the ASEAN region and beyond. The Act East Policy’s focus has certainly been on the ASEAN countries, but another important dimension has also been added. Not just the ASEAN economies but also countries in the wider Indo-Pacific region have come under the ambit of the Act East Policy. Southeast Asia, East Asia, Oceania, and the Pacific Island countries comprise the geographical canvass of the Act East Policy today, while the Indo-Pacific approach is wider in scope, including even the United States as a part of its vision. The areas of cooperation now include political, economic, defence, security, cultural, people-to-people, and other linkages. The key aspect of the Act East Policy is that India is projecting itself as a major and responsible stakeholder in shaping the Indo-Pacific regional order. Rising bonhomie with the US, Japan, and Australia is an essential element of this vision. Highlighting key aspects of the Act East Policy, India’s Ministry of External Affairs states, “[t]he key principles and objectives of ‘Act East Policy’ is [sic!] to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop a strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through
