India Hones ‘Act-East' Policy

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi has made it a point to use the Republic Day to underpin a specific foreign policy initiative.

- Minhaz Merchant

In January 2015, Barack Obama became the first United States president to be chief guest at India’s Republic Day. The move signalled Modi’s desire to forge a closer strategic partnership with the US. In 2016, French President François Hollande was chief guest as India focused on building deeper economic ties with the European Union (EU).

The chief guest at the Republic Day parade in 2017 was Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Modi had made the Middle East a focal point for his foreign policy by nuancing the outreach to Israel (a significant defence partner) as well as to the Gulf kingdoms (where several million Indians, including minorities, work).

All three past Republic Day chief guests have therefore served a particular geopolitical objective. So what should we read into the decision to invite all ten leaders of ASEAN as joint chief guests on January 26, 2018, India’s 69th Republic Day?

There are in fact several messages with nuanced subtexts. First, it is an extension of India’s Act-East policy. For decades India has followed a Look- East policy. ASEAN, the world’s second most powerful trading bloc after the EU, had showed scant interest in India’s paternalistic vision which emphasised geopolitical priorities to its west rather than to its east.