The Indo-Pacific: India’s Look East 3.0

14 Mar, 2013    ·   3843

D. Suba Chandran contextualises India’s Look East Policy within the paradigm of contemporary regional dynamics


Looking East: Third Generation Push


What could be the specific parameters of India’s Look East 3.0?

‘Acting East’ and ‘Bringing East’



On economic and trade relations, not all countries to India’s east will have an interest or sufficient capacity to invest in the country. But specific nations could be identified, and efforts could be made to attract investment from them. This investment need not necessarily be directly in context of the economic field, but could also cover other sectors such as education and tourism. While Japan, Korea, and Singapore may have adequate resources to invest economically in India, countries like Australia can be approached to invest in education and other sectors.

New Delhi should also approach other countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia to come to India; historical linkages, tourism, and religion can play a crucial role in attracting some of the countries in the east, starting from Myanmar including Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. An example will be the huge asymmetry between India and Thailand, or India and Cambodia in terms of movement of people. While more Indians visit Thailand, and to an extent Cambodia, what is the percentage of Thai and Cambodian visitors to India?

There are two simple problems in attracting more tourism from Southeast and East Asia – lack of sufficient knowledge about India in these countries, and complex visa procedures. Though the foreign ministry understands the problem, this has not been translated into action. Perhaps, there is a huge difference between how the foreign ministry in South Block perceives its ‘Look East’, and how its bureaucracy, especially the visa offices in respective countries, implement it. Many Southeast and East Asians rank the experience to procure a visa from an Indian embassy from ‘impossible’ to ‘horrible’.

The embassies and missions in Southeast and East Asia, being the public face of India and the first experience to the local people, will have to become friendly and professional, and avoid being seen as ‘bureaucratic’ and ‘high handed’. Given the rigidity and structure of the Indian bureaucracy, an easier way out could be to adopt a strategy of providing more visas on arrival. Else, New Delhi will keep looking east, but none from the East will look west towards India.

Look East 3.0: How Far and Where From?
Another important component of the Look East 3.0 should be in terms of how far India should look east. In the 1990s, when the policy was designed, it was primarily focussed on Southeast Asia. Now, in the third decade, India should expand its definition of ‘East’ and extend it to Japan and Australia.

Today, East Asia including Japan, Korea, and Taiwan; and Australia are equally important for India in economic, political, and cultural terms. A strong relationship with these countries will provide a concrete base for New Delhi to shape an Asian security architecture.

Towards achieving the above objectives, India’s Look East 3.0 should use the ‘Indo-Pacific’ as its own pivot towards the Asia-Pacific.

Finally, India’s Look East 3.0 should involve regional actors, and not purely be based in New Delhi alone. Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and the entire Northeast should become an essential component of India’s Look East Policy. In simple terms, India should Look East from different sub-regions within the country, with different strategies.