Looking East: India and Southeast Asia*

relationship between India and Southeast Asia. This, along with a clutch of other agreements that have been entered into in the last few years on to combat terrorism, on accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), on a variety of other activities has resulted in further consolidation of what is known as India’s Look East policy that was initiated in the early 1990s. It has since remained a major priority of India’s foreign policy. On the defence and strategic front too the progress has been impressive through a number of agreements and embarking on a variety of other activities with member-states of ASEAN. While continuing the emphasis on Southeast Asia, the Look East policy is poised to enlarge the scope to encompass the rest of the Asia Pacific region. India has indeed come a long way since the Cold War days when most of the then ASEAN countries perceived India to be in the camp of the former Soviet Union. Aside from Vietnam to an extent, there was very little political interaction of consequence except normal relations, defence links were virtually non-existent, and economic bonds were of little consequence. When seen against this background, the progress that India has made in cultivating multi-faceted relationships with ASEAN and its members is remarkable. If visits by the top political leadership are any indication, Southeast Asia sa