Bilateral relations

IAS Parliament 6 years

KEY POINTS

· Look East policy focus on India’s strategic, economic relations with Southeast Asian Nations to have a regional stability.

· Act east policy focus not only on Southeast Asian Nations but also Pacific countries; emphasise the centrality of Northeastern Region in strengthening relations among neighbours.

Role of Vietnam

Act East policy

· Vietnam’s foreign policy is characterised by ‘multidirectionalism’, which addresses regional asymmetries of the power. Eg: Vietnam on invited India to explore and exploit natural resources within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea (SCS).

· Vietnam even normalised relations with the U.S, which is the crucial strategic partner for India to have a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific Region.

· Vietnamese National Assembly referred to a ‘rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific’, reiterating India’s own concerns over troubled maritime spaces, finding compatibility between the ‘Indo-Asia-Pacific’ and the U.S.

· Emphasis on Mekong- Ganga Cooperation framework to strengthen the relationship with ASEAN. This will help in the development of the Northeastern region. Eg: Kaladan Multimodal project, IMT trilateral highway.

Look East Policy

· Honourable President of India referred to the ‘cooperation model’ where India offers, providing choices and opportunities for its friends, $500 million line of credit was offered to Vietnam.

· 'VINBAX', for the first time, armies of India and Vietnam began a six-day-long military exercise in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, to strengthen defence cooperation.

· Focus on furthering cooperation in agriculture and innovation-based sectors, pushing the potential for increasing bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2020.