India’s Act East Policy with the Indo-Pacific Trade

Since 2018, India’s ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ policies have moved into the phase of Indo-Pacific policy and strategy.

Indo-Pacific:

• The Indo-Pacific is a geopolitical construct that has emerged as a substitute to the long-prevalent “Asia-Pacific.
• Indian ocean and pacific ocean: It is an integrated theater that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and the land masses that surround them.
• Strategic and economic: It is both a strategic as well as an economic domain comprising important sea-lines of communication
• Maritime security: The Indo-Pacific is also associated with maritime security and cooperation.
• US: It describe the Indo-Pacific as a region that starts at the:
• Western shore of the Americas and ends at the shores of the Indian subcontinent.
• India and Japan: the concept is much broader in expanse, extending to the shores of the African continent.
• Major stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific include: India, U.S.A., Australia, Japan, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and other maritime nations that occupy the strategic positions in the Indian and Pacific Ocean including small island countries.

Significance of Indo-Pacific region for India:

• Strategic significance: The Indo-Pacific is a multipolar region that accounts for over half of global GDP and population.
• Mineral Resources: Maritime regions have also become important storage areas for essential resources such as fish stocks, minerals, and offshore oil and gas.
• Economic Growth: The Indo-Pacific area accounts for approximately 60% of world GDP, making it the most important contributor to global growth.
• Commerce: Many of the world’s most important choke points for global trade are located in this region, including the Straits of Malacca, which are crucial for global economic growth.

Act East Policy:

• The Act East Policy(2014) is the upgrade of the “Look East Policy”.
• It is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different levels.
• Intensive and continuous engagement with Southeast Asian countries in the field of connectivity, trade, culture, defense and people-to-people-contact at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.

Issues of Northeast India that need to be addressed:

• Ensure adequate security
• Speed up economic development
• Connect better with the rest of India
• Connect with Select South Asian and Southeast Asian nations

Transformation in Northeast:

• Better security conditions and development.
• Recent participation in policy conversations in Imphal(Manipur) helped in clarifying local needs and priorities.
• Wide-ranging interactions with the intelligentsia and artists in Kolkata

Issues still persisting:

• Insurgency: Core issues behind the insurgency have remained unresolved.
• Non-traditional threats: Continuous smuggling, drug trafficking, transnational border crime, insurgent activity, and the influx of refugees (from Myanmar)

What steps need to be taken?

• Improvement in roads linking northeastern towns
• Job creation for thousands of graduates produced by local universities.
• Manipur: To be promoted as the hub of medical tourism for other Indian States and neighbors such as Myanmar.
• Biodiversity: The State’s research and development facilities to leverage the region’s biodiversity should be expanded.

Way Forward

• China is viewed as a ‘constant player’ behind the criminal activities: This has necessitated vigilance and strict action by the Assam Rifles and other security agencies.
• A balanced view: It indicates that considerable scope exists for more effective and people-sensitive border management in the future.
• Accelerated development: It requires increased investment by Indian corporates and foreign investors as well as better management.
• Strategic and business community to contribute to crafting a concrete blueprint for leveraging opportunities relating to commerce, connectivity, and human capital development.
• Expanding the reach of cultural diplomacy and people-to-people cooperation through greater educational exchanges, tourism, and trade is desirable.
• Shahidul Haque(former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh): moving beyond geopolitics and geo-economics, neighbors should focus on “the geo-cultural dimension” of the Indo-Pacific.
• People-related cooperation: It would lead to wider acceptance of the Indo-Pacific and consolidation of the
• S. Consul General (Kolkata) Melinda Pavek: It was “incumbent on us to fortify our historical and geographic ties” to face future challenges.
• Member-states need to invest more in the BIMSTEC to enhance its effectiveness.
• Think and relate east: Beyond ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ lies ‘Think and Relate East’, especially within our own country.
• Voices from Northeast and eastern India must be heard.