India's Act East Policy and Singapore

Authors(1) :-Dileep Kumar Verma

The Look East Policy has been a major part of India’s international engagement to Southeast Asian countries since its economic opening in 1991. The policy has evolved from economic and diplomatic engagement with Southeast Asia to broader security and defence ties across the whole Asia-pacific. The policy has been driven in part by India’s strategy of external balancing against china, but has also been motivated by India’s desire for a greater global role in Asia-pacific region. China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean and assertiveness in maritime territorial disputes in East Asia has reinforced the relevance of an enhanced India’s role in East and Southeast Asia for India and its Asia-Pacific partners. India has indicated his intention to transform the Look East to Act East. Although the Indian government has expressed its intention to focus initially on relations with India’s South Asian neighbors, its commitment to pursue economic growth and a more ambitious foreign policy will lead to increased eastward focus.

India’s Look-East policy and economic liberalization efforts coincided with Singapore’s regionalization strategy of investing in emerging economies, providing a common ground for cooperation. Since then Singapore has been the key country for India’s engagement with Southeast Asia. It was the country coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue.  Singapore also played a leading role in India, becoming a member of the ASEAN regional forum. Singapore is located strategically. It enjoys an enviable status as a financial, aviation and maritime hub. The large two-way flow of investments, presence of a large Indian Diaspora and its expertise in urban development and skills sector, make it a very valued partner for India. Singapore plays an important role in India’s 5S plank policy scaling up trade and investments, speeding up connectivity, smart cities, skills development, and State focus.

Authors and Affiliations

Dileep Kumar Verma
Research Scholar, Department of Politics Science, Lucknow University, Lucknow

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Publication Details

Published in : Volume 3 | Issue 7 | September-October 2017
Date of Publication : 2017-10-31
License:  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Page(s) : 1134-1141
Manuscript Number : IJSRST1738157
Publisher : Technoscience Academy

Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X

Cite This Article :

Dileep Kumar Verma, " India's Act East Policy and Singapore", International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Volume 3, Issue 7, pp.1134-1141, September-October-2017.
Journal URL : https://ijsrst.com/IJSRST1738157
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