India’s Act East Policy in Action

In the first 100 days of the Modi 3.0 government, India has already seen the Act East Policy being put into action. The President, Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister have all travelled to the southeast region of Asia and also hosted ministers from that region to strengthen bilateral ties.

India’s Act East Policy

The Act East Policy by the Government of India is an effort to establish diplomatic and bilateral ties with the East and South East region in Asia. The Act East Policy is an upgrade from the erstwhile Look East Policy initiated by the then Prime Minister, P V Narasimha Rao. This policy focused heavily on the ASEAN countries since they were rapidly growing economically on the global scale. In 2014, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the policy was redirected and renamed as Act East Policy, emphasising on the need for economic integration as well as cooperation over security matters. The Act East Policy has now completed a decade in action. India now aims to deepen its ties with the area given the rising Chinese and American influence in the region. Given China’s expansionist tendencies, especially with the Indian territory, it makes all the more sense for India to strengthen its ties with other nations in the region.

Prime Minister’s Visit to Brunei and Singapore

Within the first 100 days of his re-election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Sultanate of Brunei and Singapore. These visits marked the establishment of the new term of Modi as well as renewed ties with these nations. 

Narendra Modi has been the first Prime Minister of independent India to pay a visit to the Kingdom of Brunei. Although Brunei was once neglected within the foreign policy of India, it now has established bilateral connections with India. Both the countries have worked together to improve cooperation over defence issues. Brunei has been clocking between the United States and China which places it in a strategic position to India. Narendra Modi took advantage of just that favourable situation.

Modi’s visit to Singapore also bore great fruits for him. Singaporean Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, had just taken oath as the Prime Minister in the middle of May and PM Modi swore into his position as the Indian Prime Minister only a month after. This proved to be one of the initial and most remarkable bilateral talks for both the parties. Singapore hosts a large number of Indian diaspora which makes it an important ally to India.

Besides the Prime Minister visiting these countries, delegates and ministers from other southeast Asian countries were also hosted in New Delhi. Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Malaysia paid a visit to Prime Minister Modi in Delhi.