Look East Policy

Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Look East Policy was India's plan to build close economic, strategic and cultural ties with South-East Asia (and later East Asia), with ASEAN at its centre. It was set out under PM P.V. Narasimha Rao, and the MEA dates its start to 1992 [1][5].

It matters because it marked a clear change in India's foreign policy after the Cold War. India now chose partners for trade and national interest, not for ideology. In November 2014 the policy was upgraded into the Act East Policy [5].

Explanation

Why India looked East (1991-92)

• End of the Cold War (1990-91):
• The USSR broke up in December 1991. Russia stayed a friend of India, but it was no longer a top world power.

• World politics now turned more on economic interests than on military ones.

• 1991 balance-of-payments crisis (when a country runs short of foreign currency to pay for imports and repay loans):

• In June 1991, India's usable foreign exchange reserves were within weeks of running out [3].

• India took gold-backed loans from abroad and loans from the IMF [3]. It also lowered the value of the rupee in two steps, on 1 and 3 July 1991 [4].

• The LPG reforms (liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation) followed. Trade, investment and markets became central to Indian diplomacy.

• The result: India turned towards the US, the West and the fast-growing economies of East Asia. Look East was India's door to South-East Asia.

Its main parts

• Economic: trade, investment and tourism links with ASEAN states.
• Strategic: security talks with Asia-Pacific countries, mainly through the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) (ASEAN's forum for security talks across the Asia-Pacific) [1].
• Cultural: links with South-East Asia, built on shared history and people.
• ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations): a regional group of South-East Asian states, formed in 1967. India is not a member. It is a dialogue partner (a country that holds regular official talks with the group).

How India-ASEAN ties grew step by step

Year	Status	What it means
1992	Sectoral Dialogue Partner [1]	Talks in only a few areas, such as trade, investment and tourism
1995	Full Dialogue Partner [1]	Talks in all areas at Foreign Minister level. Often written as 1995-96, because India first sat in these meetings in 1996
1996	Member, ARF [1]	Joined ASEAN's security forum
2002	Summit level [1]	First ASEAN-India Summit
2012	Strategic Partnership [1]	Agreed at the Commemorative Summit in New Delhi (December 2012)

From Look East to Act East (2014)

• Act East Policy: an upgrade of Look East, announced in November 2014 [5].
• Where → at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit and the 9th East Asia Summit in Myanmar [5].
• Wider area → it covers the whole Indo-Pacific, not just South-East Asia [5].

• Focus → connectivity (transport, trade and people-to-people links), economic ties, culture and strategic ties [5].

• The limit of Look East: it began mainly as an economic policy aimed at South-East Asia. The word "Act" signals moving from looking to doing, with a stronger strategic side.

In the Constitution and practice

• No article names it. Look East is a policy of the Union executive (the PM and the Ministry of External Affairs), not a law.
• Constitutional base:
• Seventh Schedule, Union List: foreign affairs and the making of treaties with other countries are Union subjects. Only the Centre handles them.
• Article 51 (Directive Principles, Part IV) → the State shall try to promote international peace and security, keep just and honourable relations between nations, and respect international law and treaty obligations. Look East's focus on peaceful, trade-based ties fits this goal.

• Article 253 → Parliament can make laws for the whole country to carry out treaties and international agreements, including those signed with ASEAN states.

• Who drove it: PM P.V. Narasimha Rao, during the 1991 economic reforms [1][5].

• Key instances:
• 1992 → India became an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner [1].
• 1992 → in the same post-Cold War shift, India set up full diplomatic relations with Israel, after recognising it in 1950 [2]. Both choices put national interest above old ideology.
• 1995 → 1996 → 2002 → 2012 → Full Dialogue Partner, ARF, Summit level, Strategic Partnership [1].

• 2014 → upgraded to Act East in Myanmar [5].

• Lasting effect: Look East survived changes of government. Like the rest of India's foreign policy, it had broad support across parties. Later governments built on it instead of reversing it.

Don't confuse with

• Act East Policy (2014): Look East (MEA date 1992) was centred on South-East Asia and ASEAN. Act East (November 2014, Myanmar) covers the wider Indo-Pacific, with more weight on connectivity and strategic ties [5].
• "Genuine non-alignment" (1977): this was the Janata government's slogan under Morarji Desai, meant to correct the pro-Soviet tilt. Look East came in 1991-92, after the Cold War, and was driven by economics, not by staying away from blocs.
• ASEAN membership vs dialogue partnership: India has never been an ASEAN member. It moved from Sectoral (1992) to Full Dialogue Partner (1995) [1].
• ARF vs ASEAN: the ARF is a separate forum for security talks across the Asia-Pacific. India joined it in 1996 [1]. Joining the ARF did not make India a member of ASEAN.

Prelims Hooks

• Look East was set out under P.V. Narasimha Rao. MEA date: 1992. It began with India becoming an ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner [1][5].
• Order to remember: Sectoral Dialogue Partner 1992 → Full Dialogue Partner 1995 → ARF 1996 → Summit level 2002 → Strategic Partnership 2012 [1].
• Act East was announced in November 2014 at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit and 9th East Asia Summit in Myanmar, not in New Delhi [5].
• The 2012 Strategic Partnership was agreed at the Commemorative Summit in New Delhi (December 2012) [1].
• Trap: "India became a full member of ASEAN under the Look East Policy" → wrong. India is only a dialogue partner.
• Same shift, same year: full diplomatic ties with Israel (1992) and ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner (1992). Both were post-Cold War choices based on national interest [1][2].

Mains Points

• Economics drives diplomacy (GS-II / GS-I): the 1991 BoP crisis and the end of the Cold War moved India away from security-first, bloc-based thinking. Trade and investment became the new base of its ties, and Look East was the clearest sign of this. It supports NCERT's view that foreign policy is "always dictated by ideas of national interest".
• Continuity across governments (GS-II): Look East began under a Congress government and grew under later ones. It was upgraded in 2014, not replaced. This shows the cross-party agreement on foreign policy, while India still kept its strategic autonomy (freedom to choose partners issue by issue).
• From "Look" to "Act" (GS-II): a common criticism is that Look East stayed mostly about trade and moved slowly. Act East tries to fix this through connectivity, a strategic role and a wider Indo-Pacific focus [5]. A good answer can weigh how far this shift has turned policy into results on the ground.

Related concepts

• Genuine non-alignment

Read more

• Shifting alignments, 1977-1999: from genuine non-alignment to Look East