Sie sind auf Seite 1von 3

Indias Act East Policy: A Journey Escorted by Challenges

By Sok Bunthorn
August 19, 2015
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
bunthornkps@gmail.com
In a rare speech delivered during her visit to New Delhi in 2011, former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton reiterated her desire to see India transform the old-fashioned Look East into Act
East policy. Albeit remaining suspicious whether such reiteration was a deliberation to nudge
New Delhi to aid the allocation of the Washingtons Pivot to Asia or Rebalancing Asia, Act
East policy is ipso facto the target of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his premier
occupation.
No more of Indias hidden agenda towards ASEAN remains dubious Act East policy was
unveiled on stage by Narendra Modi during the latest ASEAN Summit in Myanmars
Naypyidaw in November 2014. Although the Act East policy is not solely targeted on ASEAN,
the current development of India cannot make its rhetoric on this policy far beyond in scope.
Three dimensions with unequal weights are wrapped in the policy economics, political
diplomacy, and security. Of the three, economic and security cooperations are observably the
most significant, with political diplomacy just neck-to-head. Three potentials are given to IndiaASEAN bilateral trade exchanges, India-ASEAN centrality, and Chinas assertive rise. However,
challenges might hardly apprise their defeat. Indias struggles will no longer be a choice, but a
must if the achievement of the policy is deemed a goal-oriented commitment, not a fortnight trip.
The below alert that New Delhi shall never overlook the headache of its Act East policy.
Act in India
While the attempt for external exposure remains only rhetorically grand, Indias internal reality
is pretty awkward. Its domestic issues have many ranges of critiques.
With around 50% of population at the age group of 18-25, shortages of unemployment
opportunities fail to push the bar from the under-2-dollars-per-day living conditions endeavored
among its citizens. A report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows the rising
trend of unemployment rate in India with a steady rise from 3.5% in 2011 to 3.6% in 2012, and
to 3.7% in 2013. Moreover, the informal employments are accounting for 94% of the total
workforce, a rate seen growing fast than that of the formal employment.
Concerning physical infrastructures, India ranked 91st out of 139 countries in 2011. The
conditions of the physical infrastructures in its northeastern states also face deterioration,

constraining its purposive outreach to ASEAN via ground, despite the existence of the IndiaMyanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highways and India-ASEAN Economic Corridors. It appears even
decayed for irrigation systems, industrial buildings, and basic physical constructions such as
roads, railways, schools, hospitals and so on, some of which are even realized in New Delhi.
Such a worse scenario labels businesses in India as the struggles to win the Olympic games.
Regarding domestic environment, its vast demographic, with only some millions smaller than
China, places its citizens at great vulnerability of maltreatment. For instance, the heatwave in
early 2015 killed more than 2300 Indians. Water, air, and land pollutions and degradations of
natural resources in Indias rural areas and subordinating cities are on potential rises. Recently,
the country has imported rice from Myanmar and wheat from Australia and elsewhere to supply
domestic demands as domestic crops are being damaged due to the absence of rainfalls. Other
promising issues also center on social insecurities such as terrorisms, cruel gang rapes, and other
daily crimes. As such, Indias domestic issues shall be more concerned among politicians before
displaying potentials abroad and Act in India might best work in building a glorious India as it
was enjoying centuries ago.
Chinas Rise
On the one hand, Beijings confident adventure in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is surely a
motivation behind the Act East policy. On the other hand, such a confident adventure also poses
constraints on Indias dream.
The arrival of China is perceived not solely as a threat, but also an opportunity for some ASEAN
states struggling for economic furtherance, power balancing and leadership legitimacy. The cases
of the South China Sea disputes in which Phnom Penh was accused of favoring Beijing
following the formers failure to issue the Joint Communiqu in 2012 and of the regime swaying
and games of politics in Thailand lately under Prayuth Chan-o-Cha can prove that Chinas
positive image is still relevant. Regarding this, India has to get through two tough tasks: altering
the aggressive status quo of China in the Asia Pacific and bringing about the ASEANs centrality
in all regional issues.
Complicating the abovementioned, Chinas relentless assistances for Pakistan in racing against
India over Kahsmir and other territorial clashes between India and Nepal, India and Bangladesh,
and India and Sri Lanka undermine the peaceful and prosperous regionalization of the South
Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for decades attempted by India as well as
to some extent pause Indias smooth journey in the Asia Pacific.
The Chinas rise is challenging not only the Act East policy, but also the U.S.s Pivot to Asia, the
Japans Asian Security Diamond (ASD), and even the Australias Embracing Indo-Pacific. Up
until now, it is not only the Act East Policy that enjoys popular saying in ASEAN, but those of

the U.S., Japan, and Australia, and even the Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR), or Maritime
Silk Road, or String of Pearl are also sharing potential stakes deemed open for politics of power
bargainings.
Indias Vague Outreach
The external policy of Narendra Modi is great in size, but sporadic in implementation. Recently,
India has focused on Africa, especially under the leadership of Narendra Modi. India has
perceived potential markets in Africa in oils, gases and services. With its $70 billion of trades
with Africa in 2015, India under Narendra Modi projected bilateral trades with the region to
reach $90 billion in 2015. Despite this attempt, India is far lagged behind Chinas $200 billion in
the region.
Back to in ASEAN, the implementation of Indias Act East policy is not in full episode as
wished. Indias interdependences with China, either economically or politically, often make New
Delhi indecisive. The cooperation on the BRICSs New Development Bank and (NDB) and
Indias inclusion into the mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) exhibit
Indias flexible and vague positions. The less specifics on the single Act East policy will more or
less trap India into tradeoffs of budgets and diplomatic displays between with ASEAN and with
China.
Thus, if the Modis administration wishes to ensure its Act East policy is fully reached with payoffs at the expense of low costs and short times, those challenges are deemed critical and urgent
for addresses. The scopes of external policy shall be narrower and the allocations of budgets
invested abroad shall be made balanced with its sufficiency of domestic development supplies. In
other words, India shall not jump too far from its inner illness and the Act East policy. Any
extensive non-equilibriums will make the Act East policy surrender with less returns.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen