East by Southeast: Three challenges for India's 'Act East' policy

Going forward India may find that its economic interests may collide with its political interests even as China's presence will continue to cast a long shadow on India's relations with ASEAN

India will play host to all ten ASEAN heads of state as chief guests at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. India has had old, civilizational ties with Southeast Asia but the present Act East policy of the Indian government follows in the footsteps of the Look East policy of the early 1990s. In this Business Standard Special, Rohan Mukherjee takes a look at the challenges India faces as China asserts itself more strongly in Asia and beyond.

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In the spring of 1947, as India prepared for independence, the interim government hosted an unprecedented gathering in New Delhi: the