Evaluate the economic and strategic dimensions of India’s Look East Policy in the context of the post Cold War international scenario. (UPSC 2015)

India’s Look East Policy, launched in 1991 amid the post-Cold War order and India’s economic crisis, sought closer ties with ASEAN and a larger Asian role.

• Economic: It expanded trade, investment and market access with Southeast Asia. India-ASEAN commerce rose sharply, though deficits and weak rules of origin revealed the need for deeper, more balanced integration.
• Connectivity and strategy: Projects like the India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway and Kaladan corridor link the North East to ASEAN. The policy also marked a shift from a continental outlook to maritime and Indo-Pacific engagement through defence ties, naval exercises and port cooperation.

Overall, Look East combined economic outreach with strategic reorientation, strengthening India’s regional integration, sea-lane security and influence in ASEAN-led institutions.