Pushpita Das replies: The Act East Policy rests on four central themes – Connectivity, Commerce, Culture and Capacity-Building. The policy envisages to break the Northeast’s isolation through various connectivity projects and integrate it with national, regional and global markets. Enhanced regional connectivity will facilitate greater Commerce, which will allow the region to explore wider markets for its products in the Southeast and East Asia.

Udai Bhanu Singh replies: Vietnam is a pillar of India’s Act East Policy. The relations between the two countries were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016. The economic reform trajectory in Vietnam and India in recent times has not been dissimilar. Vietnam introduced its Doi Moi reforms in 1986 whereas India liberalised its economy in the early 1990s (accompanied by its Look East Policy, later rechristened Act East Policy).

Udai Bhanu Singh replies: ASEAN Centrality means that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must be in the driver’s seat and be responsible for formulating a common vision and implementing it. New Delhi has consistently maintained its support for ASEAN Centrality. India’s Indo-Pacific strategy works in tandem with its Act East Policy, with ASEAN Centrality as its basis.

Udai Bhanu Singh replies: Myanmar is the lynchpin of India’s Act East Policy— it was from Naypyitaw that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the policy in 2014. The Tatmadaw’s coup on February 01, 2021, and the establishment of a new State Administrative Council (SAC), leading to a countrywide Civil Disobedience Movement, poses a serious policy challenge to New Delhi

Rajorshi Roy and Sampa Kundu replies: There are several components to the query, each of which has been dealt with under the following sub-heads: