Which one of the following is NOT one of the objectives of Act East Policy ?
- (a)To promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region
- (b)To promote peace and amity with the neighbouring countries of Asia
- (c)To place emphasis on India-ASEAN cooperation in India’s domestic agenda
- (d)To provide enhanced connectivity to the North East of India
Correct — B, promoting peace and amity with the neighbouring countries of Asia. That is the language of India's Neighbourhood First approach, which the Ministry of External Affairs treats as a separate strand of policy dealing with the immediate neighbours. Act East is directed eastwards and outwards, to South-East and East Asia and the wider region beyond the immediate neighbourhood, and the Ministry states its objective as promoting economic cooperation, cultural ties and a strategic relationship with countries of that region. The other three options are drawn from that stated formulation; option (b) is the intruder.
- (a)To promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region — This is the Ministry of External Affairs' own statement of what the policy is for, so it is an objective and cannot be the answer.
- (c)To place emphasis on India-ASEAN cooperation in India’s domestic agenda — Also an objective. Act East ties ASEAN cooperation to domestic programmes — infrastructure, manufacturing, trade, skills and urban renewal — rather than treating it as external relations alone.
- (d)To provide enhanced connectivity to the North East of India — This is central to the policy, not outside it. The North Eastern Region is India's land bridge to South-East Asia, which is why projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project sit inside the Act East framework.
India's engagement with South-East Asia was framed as the Look East Policy from 1991, when the end of the Cold War and India's own economic reforms made closer ties with the ASEAN economies both possible and necessary. In 2014 it was recast as the Act East Policy, with a sharper emphasis on delivery — projects, connectivity and defence cooperation — and with the North Eastern Region placed at its centre as the physical link to the region.
Sort India's foreign-policy labels by direction and you will rarely miss an item of this kind. Neighbourhood First looks at the immediate neighbours in South Asia; Act East looks east to ASEAN, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia; the Link West and Central Asia formulations look the other way. Option (b) uses neighbourhood language and so belongs to the first of these, which is what makes it the odd one out. Anchored to the April 2017 examination, the Ministry described the policy as covering the Asia-Pacific region; it now uses the term Indo-Pacific for the same engagement, so present-day material will read a little differently.
- The Look East Policy dates from 1991 and was recast as the Act East Policy in 2014.
- The Ministry of External Affairs states the objective as promoting economic cooperation, cultural ties and a strategic relationship with countries of the region.
- Enhanced connectivity for the North Eastern Region is an explicit part of the policy.
- The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan multi-modal project are its flagship connectivity efforts.
- Neighbourhood First is a separate policy strand, directed at India's immediate South Asian neighbours.
- Reading any friendly-sounding foreign-policy sentence as an objective of whichever policy is named.
- Confusing the immediate neighbourhood with the extended eastern neighbourhood.
- Forgetting that connectivity for the North East is part of the policy, not a domestic matter outside it.
Policy questions are set as 'which is NOT an objective', as statement pairs to be judged, or as a match between a policy and the region it addresses.
With reference to "Look East Policy" of India, consider the following statements: 1. India wants to establish itself as an important regional player in the East Asian affairs. 2. India wants to plug the vacuum created by the termination of Cold War. 3. India wants to restore the historical and cultural ties with its neighbours in Southeast and East Asia. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 1 and 3 only
The predecessor policy tested the same way — three plausible aims, one of which was never part of the stated objective.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Look East Policy of India was recast as the Act East Policy in
- (a)1991
- (b)2004
- (c)2014
- (d)2019
Answer(c) 2014 — the Look East framework of 1991 was renewed with a delivery-focused emphasis.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project links India with
- (a)Myanmar
- (b)Sri Lanka
- (c)Nepal
- (d)Indonesia
Answer(a) Myanmar — connecting Kolkata to Sittwe and onward to Mizoram, under the Act East framework.