The need to rekindle India’s traditional relations with the Southeast Asian countries in the context of the efforts of China to enforce its hegemony in the region was highlighted by speakers at a seminar held by the Indian Naval Academy (INA) here.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of the two-day Dilli series of seminar on ‘India and Southeast Asia: maritime trade, expeditions and civilizational linkages’ here on Thursday, Vice Admiral (Retd.) Anup Singh said India had a unique story about its influence in the Southeast Asia region without hegemony and conquest. Historically, there were trade and cultural linkages between India’s coastal kingdoms of Orissa and Southern India and countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. Noting that the peninsular geography of India surrounded by the Indian Ocean is a boon to its economy, he said that It has facilitated links of commerce, culture, and comity with its extended neighbourhood through time. Even far-away Vietnam and Cambodia became major centres of Indian civilization, he added.
“We lost the plot sometime in the sixties, becoming more inward looking, while prominent countries in Southeast Asia galloped in their economic trajectory,” Vice Admiral Singh said.
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The ‘gaping void’ in the relations between India and Southeast Asian countries between the sixties and the early nineties had witnessed a change with the end of the Cold War, he said. The ‘Look East Policy’ commissioned by then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao represented a major shift in India’s foreign policy since then, he pointed out. The policy represented India’s efforts to cultivate economic and strategic relations with the friends in the East, he added. He concluded his address by stressing that the India’s strengths included its geographical advantage and the Indian diaspora in the region.
In his opening address, Vice Admiral S.V. Bhokare, Commandant of the INA, said the roots of the ‘Look East Policy’ could be traced to the initiative taken by the Indian Navy in 1980s to re-establish links with their counterparts in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia and Malaysia. He said the shift in India’s policy towards Southeast Asia should be seen in the context of China’s aggressive assertion of its claims on the South China Sea, adding that India’s importance in evolving regional order is becoming vital. He also noted that Southeast Asia today is facing various national and transnational problems such as terrorism, political instability and escalating territorial and maritime disputes.
Ruby Maloni, Head of History Department, University of Mumbai, spoke on the role played by Gujarati mercantile and maritime activity in the formation of trade practices, traditions and routes operating in the Indian Ocean.
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