Books Chapters

India has over the years tailored its foreign policy to adapt to the changing global geo-political environment with reasonable success. It has established stable relationships with Southeast Asian countries individually and with ASEAN as a grouping as part of is ‘Look’ East and ‘Act’ East policies although there is a mutual feeling that overall, the relationship has not fully lived up to their expectations. Meanwhile, the shifting geopolitical environment in the Indo-Pacific marked by the rise of an aggressive China and uncertainties about the US and US–China relations is forcing a re-calibration of India’s strategic, security and foreign-policy options. This includes a crystallisation of the Quad over the years of which India is a part that could have implications for ASEAN centrality. In engaging ASEAN and the emerging geo-political realities in Asia and the world, are there new strategic and policy options available for India in East and Southeast Asia? This paper looks specifically at some economic strategies that can be contemplated.