China in India’s Post-Cold War Engagement with Southeast Asia: Chietigj Bajpaee, Routledge, Abingdon, UK

The commemoration of 2022 as the ‘ASEAN-India Year of Friendship’ marks thirty years of the partnership between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Beginning in 1992 with India’s ‘Look East Policy’ (LEP), renamed ‘Act East Policy’ (AEP) in 2014, India has progressed from being a Sectoral Partner of ASEAN in 1992 to a Dialogue Partner in 1996 and a Summit-level Partner in 2002. The transition in India’s approach not just underscores the continuing importance of Southeast Asia in New Delhi’s strategic calculus, but also highlights the reinvigoration of Indian foreign policy under the changed geopolitical dynamics of the Indo-Pacific in the Asia-Pacific security architecture. Besides, India has maintained the centrality of the ASEAN not just under the LEP/AEP but also in its Indo-Pacific vision. Here, the key query that demands attention is: what explains India’s approach to the region over three decades?