Act East Policy

Definition

India's strategic and economic policy of deepening engagement with the countries of South-East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific, upgraded from the earlier Look East Policy.

Key points

• The Look East Policy was launched in the early 1990s under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to reconnect India with East and South-East Asia after the end of the Cold War.
• It was rebranded as the "Act East Policy" in 2014, signalling a shift from economic engagement to a more proactive strategic, security, and connectivity role.
• Its priorities include connectivity projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, and stronger ties with ASEAN.
• It has a strong North-East India dimension, treating the region as India's gateway to South-East Asia, which links it to border management and insurgency concerns in the North-East.
• It dovetails with India's Indo-Pacific outlook, including the Quad and the SAGAR doctrine.

Why it matters for CAPF

Act East ties India's foreign policy to North-Eastern security and connectivity, a theme that overlaps internal security and international relations, making it a high-value CAPF topic.

Common confusion

"Look East" (1990s, economic) was upgraded to "Act East" (2014, strategic and security-focused). Act East emphasises South-East Asia and the Indo-Pacific; do not confuse it with "Neighbourhood First", which focuses on India's immediate South Asian neighbours.

Related concepts

concept neighbourhood first, concept sagar doctrine, concept bimstec, concept quad

Parent note

international organisations and india