Journal Articles

A decade and a half after India enunciated its “Look-East” policy, shortly after the end of the Cold War, Its actual economic linkages with East Asia remain far too low for an aspiring Asian power. This article lays out the overarching geoeconomic and geopolitical variables at play in the region that must inform India’s posture and policy. The author argues that East Asia has evolved into a complex system where security and economic interdependence, rather than working at cross purposes may buttress each other. Furthermore, the structure of economic relations in the region has hitherto had an extraregional driver, which suggests China’s economic rise is based on an extensive multilateral division of labour. India’s immersion into the regional political economy will depend principally on the scale and quality of its manufacturing and industrial sectors.