In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s shift from a “Look East” to an “Act East” Policy, signalling a more proactive engagement with Southeast Asia across economic, political, strategic, and security domains. Over the past decade, the policy has yielded mixed results. While defence cooperation has expanded significantly — including India’s BrahMos missile exports to the Philippines and Indonesia — economic engagement has remained below potential, particularly following India’s decision to opt out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). At the same time, emerging areas such as semiconductors, supply chains, and critical technologies have opened new avenues for cooperation.
India’s engagement with Southeast Asia is unfolding amid an increasingly complex Indo-Pacific environment shaped by intensifying US–China rivalry, growing Chinese assertiveness, disruptions to globalisation, and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. While ASEAN-led institutions continue to retain political relevance, minilateral frameworks are gaining greater prominence. For India, Southeast Asia remains central to maritime security, regional connectivity, and balancing China’s influence.
Against this backdrop, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, in collaboration with the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), will launch a Special Report titled India and Southeast Asia: Mapping Strategic Convergence in an Era of Great-Power Competition on 2 June 2026. The event will bring together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss the evolving trajectory of India–Southeast Asia relations and emerging strategic opportunities in the Indo-Pacific.
