India's Act East Policy and Challenges from China:Indian Reponse

SHABEER AHMAD PAREY

Look East Policy, Act East Policy, Rise of China, Sino-India Clashes, ?? ASEAN

Abstract. Will India and China co-exist, especially in South East Asia, and reap the fruits of cooperation with ASEAN countries together? Or are they hell-bent to contain each-others' influence in the whole of Asia in general and in SEA in particular? The Dragon's violent rise is more visible now, as was predicted twenty years back by John Mearsheimer, the American offensive realist thinker. China is asserting itself by her actions in the South China Sea, increase in military presence on the disputed islands, her belligerent relations with many of the ASEAN countries, Japan, Australia, and India, etc. June 2020, border clashes with India at Galwan Valley in Ladak, which took twenty lives of Indian soldiers, have further raised a question mark on her peaceful rise. For India, it also at the same time has increased the apprehensions as to how India-China relations will unfold in other regions, especially in South East Asia where both are having great stakes. India is looking towards the southeast more seriously since 1991. To act more proactively in this region, the Narinder Modi Government made a policy shift of translating India's Look East Policy into Act East Policy in 2014. China is taking serious note of growing a new alliance buildup in this region where India, Japan, and Australia are heavily weighted towards the United States of America. India's protest on OBOR and growing proximity with ASEAN countries, on the other hand, is also irking China. The current paper, therefore, takes all these factors into account and attempts to see what goals India has set to achieve in Act East Policy and what challenges she is facing in it especially from China, and how is she dealing with such a state of uncertainty in this region.

Volume 14 Issue 2, February-2026

Pages : b559-b567