India and China: Rivals or Partners in Southeast Asia?

In the immediate post–World War II era following independence, India as the second largest country in Asia played an active role as promoter of Asian regionalism. However, India's decision to pursue a policy of non-alignment in international relations was not well received by the West and also some ASEAN countries as that policy evidenced a pro-Soviet orientation during the Cold War (1947–91). In Southeast Asia, India's support for North Vietnam and its recognition of the Khmer Rouge regime of Heng Samrin in Cambodia did little to promote good relations between New Delhi and ASEAN.

However, as the Cold War ended in the early 1990s and China's influence increased in Southeast Asia, India again realized ASEAN's importance in terms of politics, economy, and diplomacy, and consequently launched its "Look East" policy, the focus of which was how to become actively engaged in Southeast Asian affairs in the post–Cold War era. This article attempts to analyse India's Look East policy and its new strategies towards ASEAN. It examines the factors affecting India's post–Cold War policies towards ASEAN, the China factor in the changing relationship between India and ASEAN, and the India factor in Sino-ASEAN relations. It concludes with the suggestion that both these simultaneously rising powers, despite being rivals, can also become stakeholders or partners in ASEAN-led Southeast Asian regionalism.