India's 'Look East' policy, targeted at enhancing India's standing in global politics, could spell success for the entire South East Asia depending on India's ability to integrate the interests of its North Eastern states in its larger regional ambition, though Myanmar could emerge as the Achilles' heel.
This was suggested in a summary of a report of the Asian Dialogue Society's (ADS) Greater Asia Initiative, 'Shared Integration: Promoting a Greater Asia'.
A study mission had visited NE in January this year to examine the possibilities of collaboration between the people of the NE states and Southeast Asia and the impact of the Look East policy.
The report explores the critical nexus between India and South East Asia and the many dimensions of India's role in Greater Asia.
It maintains that India has adopted a configurational approach towards regionalism, which is episodic in essence in which certain strategic configurations dominate, depending on the geopolitical or geo-economic environment.
India perceives Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the stepping stone towards achieving her regional objectives and balance in the global power play.
The report argues that the Look East policy was embedded in its historical commitment to build Asian solidarity as reflected in the 1955 Bandung Declaration.
{{/usCountry}}The report argues that the Look East policy was embedded in its historical commitment to build Asian solidarity as reflected in the 1955 Bandung Declaration.
{{/usCountry}}The report recommended 'shared integration' for a creative fusion of India's interests with the region's priorities.
The report cautions that the progress of the Look East policy would be dictated by India's ability to integrate the interests of the NE states in its larger regional ambition.
As such, the report studies the realities of ethno-nationalism and sub-regionalism in NE India in the context of intra-regional relations, and their implications for the realisation of shared integration.