Over the course of four decades of the Cold War, Chakraborti and Chakraborty analyse India’s path from nonalignment towards realism and self-assertion, and finally to confidence-building and interdependence with respect to their neighbours in Southeast Asia. What were the reasons for India’s shift from non-alignment to a more pragmatic approach to foreign relations in its relationships with both the non-Communist states of ASEAN and the Communist States of Indochina? How was this shift perceived by those countries? To what degree were Pakistan’s foreign and defence policies responsible for India’s changes in alignment throughout the Cold War? What lessons can we draw from these events, as the Indo-Pacific is again becoming a major arena of great power rivalry? In order to address these questions, Chakraborti and Chakraborty study the development of India’s foreign and security policies throughout the period, tracking the changes of stances between and within administrations. They evaluate how these decisions were driven by a combination of ideology, pragmatism and changes in priorities as the regional architecture developed over time. A valuable read for scholars and students of India’s foreign relations and of Indo-Pacific geopolitics more broadly.

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.

It historically examines India's impact on the non-aligned movement as manifest at the Belgrade Summit 1961 to the Jakarta Summit 1992. It dilates upon Nehru's eloquent theoretical exposition of non-alignment at the Belgrade Summit, Shastri's concern with regional issues at Cairo and Mrs. Gandhi's espousal of restructuring the international order at Lusaka and at the subsequent conferences as well as Rajiv's optimistic leadership towards the unfinished task of his mother. Special attention has been given to India's performance at the New Delhi summit. It highlights Indian efforts to resolve the various contentious issues that had plagued the movement since the last summit at Havana in 1979 and explains why the Summit was hailed as the fresh beginning of the NAM. Detailed analysis of the post New Delhi Summit era encompassing India's Chairpersonship of the movement under Rajiv Gandhi's leadership, his dynamic support to the African cause at Harare in 1986 and his contribution to moot a Planet Protection fund at the second Belgrade Summit 1989. It also incorporates Mr. Narashimha Rao's strong stand against attaching conditionalities to all forms of assistances, intellectual property rights, terrorism, etc., at the Jakarta Summit 1992.

India has espoused the notion of building 'South-South' relations with other developing countries in recent years. The ASEAN countries, in particular, have come to play an important part in India's trade and policy considerations over the last decade. This book argues that India is responding strongly to the growth of the Asia-Pacific region which is now of elevated importance in India's strategic and foreign policy calculations. India and Southeast Asia provides a close contextual analysis of India's interests and perceptions in the region during the 40 years of independence, putting it in the context of India's broad strategic and foreign policy framework, including an analysis of superpower relations and involvement. It argues that New Delhi now sees the future of Southeast Asia as closely linked to its own.