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India’s Act East Policy
Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment
- A change: The Union Minister of State Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) said in March that connectivity is an important element of Act East Policy. So what is this policy? The ‘Act East Policy’ announced in November, 2014, is the upgrade of the “Look East Policy”. (From "look" to "act)
- What is Act East: It is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different levels. It involves intensive and continuous engagement with Southeast Asian countries in the field of connectivity, trade, culture, defence and people-to-people-contact at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.
- Goals: To promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and developing a strategic relationship with countries in Indo-pacific region with a proactive and pragmatic approach and thereby improving the economic development of the North Eastern Region (NER) which is a gateway to the South East Asia Region.
- Historical background: In order to recover from the loss of the strategic partner - USSR (end of the Cold war 1991), India sought to build up a relationship with the USA and allies of the USA in Southeast Asia. In this pursuit, former Prime minister of India P V Narasimha Rao launched the "Look East policy" in 1992, to give a strategic push to India’s engagement with the South-East Asia region, to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People’s Republic of China.
- Key difference Between Look East and Act East:
- Look East - This focused on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries + Economic Integration. India became a dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1996 and summit level partner in 2002. In 2012 the relationship got up-graded into a Strategic Partnership. The time when India launched the Look East Policy in 1992, India's trade with ASEAN was USD 2 billion. After signing the Free Trade Agreement in 2010 with ASEAN, the trade has grown to USD 72 billion (2017-18). India is also an active participant in several regional forums like the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) etc.
- Act East - This focused on ASEAN countries + Economic Integration + East Asian countries + Security cooperation. The Prime Minister of India highlighted the 4 Cs of Act East Policy - Culture, Commerce, Connectivity, and Capacity building.
- Security is an important dimension of India's Act East Policy. In the context of growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, securing freedom of navigation and India's own role in the Indian Ocean is a key feature of Act East Policy. In pursuance of this, India has been engaged under the narrative of Indo-pacific and informal grouping called Quad.
- Initiatives to enhance connectivity: (i) The Agartala-Akhaura Rail Link between India and Bangladesh, (ii) Intermodal transport linkages and inland waterways through Bangladesh, (iii) Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the Trilateral Highway Project connecting the North East with Myanmar and Thailand, (iv) Under India-Japan Act East Forum, projects such as Road and Bridges and modernization of Hydro-electric power projects have been undertaken.
- With Japan: The India-Japan Act East Forum was established in 2017 which aims to provide a platform for India-Japan collaboration under the rubric of India’s "Act East Policy” and Japan’s "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy”. The Forum will identify specific projects for economic modernization of India’s North-East region including those pertaining to connectivity, developmental infrastructure, industrial linkages as well as people-to-people contacts through tourism, culture and sports-related activities.
- Other initiatives: Assistance extended in the form of medicines/medical supplies to ASEAN countries during the pandemic. Scholarships with offers of 1000 PhD fellowships have been offered at IITs for ASEAN countries participants. India is also implementing Quick Impact Projects in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to provide development assistance to grass-root level communities in the fields of education, water resources, health etc. Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) are small-scale, low cost projects that are planned and implemented within a short timeframe.
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