Over the course of four decades of the Cold War, Chakraborti and Chakraborty analyse India’s path from nonalignment towards realism and self-assertion, and finally to confidence-building and interdependence with respect to their neighbours in Southeast Asia. What were the reasons for India’s shift from non-alignment to a more pragmatic approach to foreign relations in its relationships with both the non-Communist states of ASEAN and the Communist States of Indochina? How was this shift perceived by those countries? To what degree were Pakistan’s foreign and defence policies responsible for India’s changes in alignment throughout the Cold War? What lessons can we draw from these events, as the Indo-Pacific is again becoming a major arena of great power rivalry? In order to address these questions, Chakraborti and Chakraborty study the development of India’s foreign and security policies throughout the period, tracking the changes of stances between and within administrations. They evaluate how these decisions were driven by a combination of ideology, pragmatism and changes in priorities as the regional architecture developed over time. A valuable read for scholars and students of India’s foreign relations and of Indo-Pacific geopolitics more broadly.

This book examines the role of China in driving and sustaining India’s post-Cold War engagement with Southeast Asia. In doing so, it provides a unique insight into the regional dimensions of the Sino-Indian relationship. India launched its Look East Policy in the early 1990s as part of a concerted effort to revive the importance of Southeast Asia in the country’s foreign policy agenda. This study assesses the role of the China factor – defined here as China’s regional role, which has been interpreted through the prism of the Sino-Indian relationship – in the inception and evolution of the policy. More specifically, it establishes the extent to which China has been raised as a priority in discourses of India’s Look East Policy and how this has varied over time from the origins of the policy through to the most recent phase of the renamed Act East Policy. Addressing the distinction between what policymakers signal in their official statements and their true or underlying motivations, the book alludes to the fact that government officials may not always reflect true intentions in their official statements, and it is often what is not said that may reveal more about their real motivations. This is particularly relevant in the context of the Sino-Indian relationship where diplomatic rhetoric often masks more competitive and confrontational aspects of the bilateral relationship. An important analysis of the interplay between India’s relations with Southeast Asia and China, this book will be of interest to academics, policymakers and students in the fields of International Relations, Asian Security, Southeast Asian politics, and in particular, Indian foreign policy, the Sino-Indian relationship, and India’s Look East/Act East Policy.

"This volume presents the findings of a research project organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in 1989 to look specifically into the impact of the end of the Cold War on regional security. It is one of the few attempts that have been made to understand the complex nature of relations between the major Asian powers and Southeast Asia in the context of their historical ambitions and current strategic imperatives. The eleven contributors are a unique combination of regional and international expertise in the field of strategic analysis representing all the major interested parties in the wider Asia-Pacific environment. Their chapters deal not only with China, India, and Japan but also with the central role of ASEAN, particularly its largest member, Indonesia, and the rapidly changing profile of Vietnam."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In the context of the geopolitical situation in the Asia-Pacific in the post-September 11 period, the security dimension between India and Southeast Asia cannot be overemphasized. With the continued U.S. preponderance in the region and China's phenomenal rise, the countries of Southeast Asia and India have an opportunity to evolve a co-operative relationship not only with one another, but also with the major powers of the region. This book examines the areas of comprehensive security and the growing understanding between India and Southeast Asia where there is less divergence and greater convergence. The author argues that India-Southeast Asia security convergence is not and should not be aimed at any particular country. On an optimistic note he concludes that such convergence will contribute to creating harmony among the major powers of Asia to make the twenty-first century the "Asian century".

Southeast Asia is rapidly becoming a competitive space for geopolitical rivalries. The growth in China-U.S. strategic competition is creating deep anxiety among Southeast Asia leaders, China's rising power is felt across every corner of Southeast Asia, and many leaders are worried about the long-term implications of rising Chinese influence in the region. The United States' increasingly assertive approach towards China is welcomed by some governments, but the growth in tensions is creating deep anxiety about a possible new Cold War. How can the region prevent a repeat of the divisions and bitter rivalries of the previous Cold War? This book argues that Southeast Asia is emerging as an open, autonomous region, where small and middle powers can maintain their sovereignty and shape the regional order. Despite new superpower pressures, the region is moving towards a multi-polar order, with greater agency for Southeast Asian countries. The key to Southeast Asia's future may be other external powers – particularly Japan, Australia, India, and Europe – who can provide ASEAN governments with more diverse partnerships, enabling them to avoid the bipolar blocs of superpower rivalries. The book argues that external partners are helping to shape the geopolitical order by supporting ASEAN leadership and diluting the influence of great powers. Southeast Asian countries also have remarkable capacity to manage asymmetrical relations and balance external powers. The book describes the region's history of managing great power relations, drawing on historical and contemporary cases. By examining the dynamics between Southeast Asia and external powers, the book predicts that the region's future will look entirely different from its Cold War past.

The centre of gravity in today’s global economy arguably now resides in Asia. As a result of this, the maintenance of geopolitical and economic security in Asia has become pivotal to global stability. This indispensable Handbook examines the crucial and multifaceted role of the United States as a force in the region that has been, and continues to be, necessary for the continuation of Asian prosperity.

In the prevailing climate of uncertainty and apprehension about Southeast Asia's security outlook in the post-Cold War era, this study looks at the question of whether there is an impending arms race in the region. It examines the factors behind the recent trends towards increased defence spending and force modernisation in countries in the region and what efforts should and can be undertaken to ensure that this build-up does not become a threat to regional security and stability.

This book sheds light on a neglected aspect of India's Cold War diplomacy, starting with the role of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Congress government in organizing the first Asian-African Conference in Bandung in April 1955. Andrea Benvenuti shows how, in the early Cold War, Nehru seized the opportunity accorded by the conference to transcend growing international tensions and pursue an alternative vision: a neutralized Asian "area of peace," underpinned by a code of conduct based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence. Relying on Indian, Western and Chinese archival sources, Nehru's Bandung focuses on the policy concerns and calculations, as well as the international factors, that drove a skeptical Nehru to support Indonesia's diplomatic push for such a gathering. It reveals how, in Nehru's estimation, Bandung also served a further important purpose--securing China's commitment to peaceful coexistence, without which stability in Asia would be illusory. Nehru's support for an Asian-African conference did not derive from an emotional commitment to Afro-Asian internationalism. Instead, it stemmed from a desire to promote a 'third way' in an increasingly polarized world, and to forge a stable regional order--one that would enhance India's external security and domestic prosperity.

This detailed study throws light on the evolution of British policy in South-east Asia in the turbulent post-war period. Through extensive archival research and insightful analysis of the British mindset and official policy, Tarling demonstrates that South-east Asia was perceived as a region consisting of mutually co-operating new states, rather than a fragmented mass. The book covers the immediate post-war period until the Colombo plan and the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. A companion volume to Tarling's Britain, Southeast Asia and the Onset of the Pacific War, it finds parallels between Britain's approach to the threat of Japan and its approach to the threat of communism. It also shows that the British sought to shape US involvement, in part by involving other Commonwealth countries, especially India. This is a major contribution to the diplomatic and political history of South-east Asia.