India is known as a leading voice in international affairs. India's economic size, vast and growing market, democratic institutions, access to ocean and foundation of science largely explain why India continues to play an important role in global and regional affairs. India is the only country in Asia having the heft to counterbalance China and thus welcomed by many countries in Asia and the Pacific. India has embarked on a period of radical changes in its foreign and economic policies. Faced with a major slowdown of India's trade with Southeast and East Asia in 2014-15, the government responded by initiating far-reaching Act East Policy (AEP) aimed at greater economic integration with South, Southeast and East Asian nations. Started with a fresh vigour in 2014, AEP has gained a new momentum while acting on the east. The Act 'East' is now getting transformed into Act 'Indo-Pacific'. This book presents short essays written by the author on several key aspects of India's economic relations and the challenges faced by India in the post-AEP period. Ten broad themes are analysed in this book: BBIN, BIMSTEC, SAARC, ASEAN, MGC, Act East - North East, BCIM, BRI, Act Far East and Indo-Pacific. This volume highlights what, in author's best judgement, should be the direction for India's expanding neighbourhood. It is an economist's insight and field experience based analysis that offers guidelines for international cooperation. This volume is an invaluable companion for the policymakers, academia, students of international relations, diplomats and the general readership as well. India's foreign policy started attracting renewed global attention since the beginning of the economic reforms in 1991 which led to the gradual opening of the Indian economy. India's trade has expanded manifold and today contributes over 40 per cent of its GDP, as compared about 3 per cent before. In PPP terms, India is the world's one of the top five largest economies. Clearly, the world expects India to play a larger role, commensurate with its size and growing power. In rising protectionism worldwide, countries, particularly developing and LDCs are looking towards a greater regional cooperation.

Offers fresh insight on issues of common concern, on economic benefits, maritime cooperation and other important topics within the broad framework of Indo-Pacific. These academic reflections provide a better understanding of the region and will help bridge the gaps in India's foreign policy towards the countries of Southeast Asia and South Pacific.

India's Eastward Engagement: From Antiquity to Act East Policy presents India's engagement with its extended eastern neighbours from ancient times to the present. It argues that this engagement has been long rooted in India's geographical location, its civilizational evolution and historical transformations. The book critically examines all the important phases--Nehru and Post-Nehru periods, and Look East and Act East policies. It exposes the widely entertained myths about India's eastward engagement and also underlines the prospective directions in which the Act East Policy may unfold in the years to come.

This book brings together a unique team of academics and practitioners to analyse interests, institutions, and issues affecting and affected by the transition from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific. The Indo-Pacific has emerged as the world’s economic and strategic centre of gravity, in which established and rising powers compete with each other. As a strategic space, the Indo-Pacific reflects the rise of geo-political and geo-economic designs and dynamics which have come to shape the region in the early twenty-first century. These new dynamics contrast with the (neo-)liberal ideas and the seemingly increasing globalisation for which the once dominant ‘Asia-Pacific’ regional label stood.

India's 'Act East Policy' has been a significant reorientation in foreign policy towards realizing India's big power ambitions. During the initial years, the focus of the policy was on economic and diplomatic connectivity that cantered around the ASEAN. Since then, the policy has evolved to assume greater strategic dimensions with co-operation in security matters and incremental engagement with countries and regions beyond the ASEAN that include East Asia and the whole of Asia-Pacific. India's plans to become a global power depend to a great extent on its becoming a dominant economic actor, political and strategic player and soft power attraction in East Asia and Asia-Pacific. This region is the most vibrant economic arena and crucial strategic site in international politics presently. The changing geopolitical and strategic realities increasingly necessitate a new regional security architecture in the region. Along with its efforts towards economic integration and diplomatic connectivity, India needs to carve out a role in shaping the security structure of the region to deal with issues of maritime disputes and security. This book is a collection of 7 scholarly papers that d

This book explains why the idea of the Indo-Pacific is so strategically important and concludes with a strategy designed to help the West engage with Chinese power in the region in such a way as to avoid conflict.

This important report was issued by the Department of Defense in June 2019. The Indo-Pacific is the Department of Defense's priority theater. The United States is a Pacific nation; we are linked to our Indo-Pacific neighbors through unbreakable bonds of shared history, culture, commerce, and values. We have an enduring commitment to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules, norms, and principles of fair competition. The continuity of our shared strategic vision is uninterrupted despite an increasingly complex security environment. Inter-state strategic competition, defined by geopolitical rivalry between free and repressive world order visions, is the primary concern for U.S. national security. In particular, the People's Republic of China, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, seeks to reorder the region to its advantage by leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce other nations. In contrast, the Department of Defense supports choices that promote long-term peace and prosperity for all in the Indo-Pacific. We will not accept policies or actions that threaten or undermine the rules-based international order - an order that benefits all nations. We are committed to defending and enhancing these shared values.China's economic, political, and military rise is one of the defining elements of the 21st century. Today, the Indo-Pacific increasingly is confronted with a more confident and assertive China that is willing to accept friction in the pursuit of a more expansive set of political, economic, and security interests. Perhaps no country has benefited more from the free and open regional and international system than China, which has witnessed the rise of hundreds of millions from poverty to growing prosperity and security. Yet while the Chinese people aspire to free markets, justice, and the rule of law, the People's Republic of China (PRC), under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), undermines the international system from within by exploiting its benefits while simultaneously eroding the values and principles of the rules-based order.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. 1. Introduction * 1.1. America's Historic Ties to the Indo-Pacific * 1.2. Vision and Principles for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific * 2. Indo-Pacific Strategic Landscape: Trends and Challenges * 2.1. The People's Republic of China as a Revisionist Power * 2.2. Russia as a Revitalized Malign Actor * 2.3. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a Rogue State * 2.4. Prevalence of Transnational Challenges * 3. U.S. National Interests and Defense Strategy * 3.1. U.S. National Interests * 3.2. U.S. National Defense Strategy * 4. Sustaining U.S. Influence to Achieve Regional Objectives * 4.1. Line of Effort 1: Preparedness * 4.2. Line of Effort 2: Partnerships * 4.3. Line of Effort 3: Promoting a Networked Region * Conclusion