Shifting Alignments in India’s Southeast Asia Policies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21512/jas.v14i1.14219Keywords:
India, ASEAN, regionalism, neo-classical realism, act east policyAbstract
Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this research argued that India’s policies toward Southeast Asia have been shaped by the interplay of three primary drivers: security maximization, economic maximization, and power maximization. The dominance of one driver or a combination of drivers varies across temporal phases, producing shifting alignments in India’s policy orientation and its regional engagement with Southeast Asia. This research applied neo-classical realism to examine the evolution of India’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia from the Cold War through the post-Cold War period. This research used qualitative methods and process tracing to trace historical progression and debates that show a non-linear pattern in India’s policy path towards Southeast Asia. While India’s policy during the Cold War period demonstrated an interplay among the three drivers, this shifted in the later Cold War period, when security maximization became more prominent. After the Cold War, economic maximization became more dominant as India sought deeper institutional and economic engagement with Southeast Asia, reflected in the Look East Policy. The Act East Policy, which was subsequently launched under India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, further broadened this engagement to encompass stronger security and power considerations. The research further finds that India’s shifting alignments are influenced not only by structural international pressures but also by domestic political considerations, including elite legitimation shaped by material and ideational factors.
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