Political and Cultural Relations between the Eastern Coast of India and Southeast Asia

history

India's "Look East" Policy (LEP) stretches back far before the '90s. Over the course of many centuries, four different waves contributed to its growth. India's eastern neighbours were an important part of the country's culture and economy up to the 12th and 13th centuries. The British Empire added an important strategic element in India during the second wave of their expansion. To achieve its aim of Asian rebirth, India's independent leaders, led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, focused on East Asia during the third wave. The demands of the Cold War, intra-Asian turmoil and rivalries, and India's economic and military constraints all hampered the country's Asia policy. Cultural exchange is beneficial to international relations because it promotes mutual understanding and acceptance among participants. The Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand share a cultural past with India but also retain a unique "Southeast Asianism" of their own. The term "Indianization" or "Hinduization" describes the extensive influence of Indian culture in spheres such as government, religion, the arts, and literature. India's earliest relations to Southeast Asia may be traced back to commercial exchanges, which then expanded into politics, religion, and the arts. After a period of disconnection caused by colonialism and the Cold War, the Look East strategy was implemented in 1991, and since then, things have only gotten better under its revised moniker, Act East, which was approved in 2014. This essay avoids any hegemonic material that proposes a "spiritual mother," instead focusing on how to effectively use this cultural influence in bolstering ties via the cutting-edge Look East-Act East method. Although India is sometimes used as an example of a nation that "exports" its culture to the rest of the world, this is far from the truth.

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